Merulinidae is a

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

of reef-building stony corals.

Characteristics

All the genera in this family are colonial, reef-building corals. Skeletal structures are similar to those of

Faviidae Mussidae is a family of stony coral in the order Scleractinia. Following a taxonomic revision in 2012, the family is now restricted to species found in the Atlantic Ocean, with Pacific species transferred to the new family Lobophylliidae. Many ...

but are highly fused, without paliform lobes. The valleys are superficial or may be indistinct because of fan-like spreading or contortions in the ridges. Faviidae and Trachyphylliidae are the most closely related families.

Genera

The World Register of Marine Species includes these

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial ...

in the family: *'' Astrea'' Lamarck, 1801 *'' Australogyra'' Veron & Pichon, 1982 *'' Boninastrea'' Yabe & Sugiyama, 1935 *''

Caulastraea ''Caulastraea'' is a genus of stony corals in the family Merulinidae. Species of ''Caulastraea'' are commonly found in the aquarium trade under the names candy cane coral or trumpet coral. Species The following species are currently recognized ...

'' Dana, 1846 *'' Coelastrea'' Verrill, 1866 *''

Cyphastrea ''Cyphastrea'' is a genus of massive reef building stony corals in the family Merulinidae, commonly known as brain coral. Species The World Register of Marine Species lists the following species: *''Cyphastrea agassizi'' (Vaughan, 1907) - Aga ...

'' Milne Edwards & Haime, 1848 *'' Dipsastraea'' Blainville, 1830 *''

Echinopora ''Echinopora'' is a genus of stony corals in the family Merulinidae. Species The following species are currently recognized: * '' Echinopora ashmorensis'' Veron, 1990 * ''Echinopora forskaliana'' (Milne Edwards & Haime, 1849) * ''Echinopora ...

'' Lamarck, 1816 *''

Erythrastrea ''Erythrastrea'' is a genus of cnidarians belonging to the family Faviidae Mussidae is a family of stony coral in the order Scleractinia. Following a taxonomic revision in 2012, the family is now restricted to species found in the Atlantic Oc ...

'' Pichon, Scheer & Pillai, 1983 *''

Favites ''Favites'' is a genus of stony corals in the family Merulinidae. Members of this genus are native to the Indo-Pacific region and their ranges extend from the Red Sea through the Indian Ocean and Western Pacific Ocean as far as Japan, the Line I ...

'' Link, 1807 *''

Goniastrea ''Goniastrea'' is a genus of stony corals in the family Merulinidae. Species belonging to the genus ''Goniastrea'' forms massive colonies, usually spherical or elongate, with well developed paliform lobes. Polyps can be seen only at night. Spe ...

'' Milne Edwards & Haime, 1848 *''

Hydnophora ''Hydnophora'' is a genus of large polyp stony corals in the family Merulinidae. List of species According to World Register of Marine Species The World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) is a taxonomic database that aims to provide an au ...

'' Fischer von Waldheim, 1807 *'' Hydnophyllia'' † Reis, 1889 *'' Isastraea''† Milne Edwards & Haime, 1851 *''

Leptoria ''Leptoria'' is a genus of stony corals in the family Merulinidae. Members of this genus are known as brain corals or closed brain corals. They are native to the Indo-Pacific region and their ranges extend from the Red Sea through the Indian Oce ...

'' Milne Edwards & Haime, 1848 *''

Merulina ''Merulina'' is a genus of Scleractinia, stony corals in the family (biology), family Merulinidae. Members of this genus are native to the Indo-Pacific region and their ranges extend from the Red Sea through the Indian Ocean as far as Japan and t ...

'' Ehrenberg, 1834 *'' Mycedium'' Milne Edwards & Haime, 1851 *''

Orbicella ''Orbicella'' is a genus of stony corals in the Merulinidae family. The Orbicella species complex comprises three sister species, namely '' Orbicella faveolata'', '' Orbicella annularis'' and '' Orbicella franksi'', all of which are shallow-water ...

'' Dana, 1846 *''

Oulophyllia ''Oulophyllia'' is a genus of stony corals in the family Merulinidae. Members of this genus are native to the tropical western and central Indo-Pacific region. Characteristics The colonies of these corals are massive and form dome-shaped mounds ...

'' Milne Edwards & Haime, 1848 *''

Paragoniastrea ''Paragoniastrea'' is a genus of stony corals in the family Merulinidae. Species The following species are currently recognized by the World Register of Marine Species: * ''Paragoniastrea australensis ''Paragoniastrea australensis'', ...

'' Huang, Benzoni & Budd, 2014 *'' Paraleptoria''† Budd & Bosellini, 2016 *'' Paramontastraea'' Huang & Budd, 2014 *''

Pectinia ''Pectinia'' is a genus of corals Corals are marine invertebrates within the class (biology), class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. C ...

'' Blainville, 1825 *'' Physophyllia'' Duncan, 1884 *''

Platygyra ''Platygyra'' is a genus of stony corals in the family Merulinidae. Species The following species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of bi ...

'' Ehrenberg, 1834 *'' Scapophyllia'' Milne Edwards & Haime, 1848 *''

Trachyphyllia The open brain coral (''Trachyphyllia geoffroyi'') is a brightly colored free-living coral species in the family Merulinidae. It is the only species in the monotypic genus ''Trachyphyllia'' and can be found throughout the Indo-Pacific. Descript ...

'' Milne Edwards & Haime, 1849

References

Scleractinia Cnidarian families Taxa named by Addison Emery Verrill {{scleractinia-stub