species: Leptoria phrygia in Lizard Island area: all known taxa (Lizard Island Field Guide)
Leptoria phrygia


©Andy Lewis: A colony of Leptoria phrygia at Lizard Island

©Andy Lewis: Macro image of Leptoria phrygia showing the typical form of the corallites

©Andy Lewis: A colony of Leptoria phrygia at Big Viki's Reef, Lizard Island
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Cnidaria
Class Hexacorallia
Order Scleractinia
Family Merulinidae
Genus Leptoria
Species Leptoria phrygia
Status near threatened

Colours

                   

Distinguishing features

A species that forms ridged massive colonies up to 1.5m diameter. Corallite valleys are meandroid and sinuous. Septa are similarly sized and evenly spaced. Colours are cream, brown or greenish brown.

Size

  • Size data has not been obtained.

Synonyms

Distribution


©Atlas of Living Australia: Australian distribution

Distribution and habitat preferences

Reef fronts, shallow reef flats.

Can be found in most habitats around Lizard Island.

Behaviour

L. phrygia is a hermaphroditic broadcast spawner. The larvae showed no depth preference at settlement.

This species is slow growing like most massive Favid corals, with growth rates typically less than 0.5cm/year.

Web resources

References

  • Babcock, R.C., G.D. Bull, P.L. Harrison, A.J. Heyward, J.K. Oliver, C.C. Wallace and B.L. Willis (1986). Synchronous spawnings of 105 scleractinian coral species on the Great Barrier Reef, Marine Biology, 90: 379-394. LIRS catalog number 300.
  • Baird, A.H. (2001). The ecology of coral larvae: settlement patterns, habitat selection and the length of the larval phase, Ph.D. thesis, James Cook University. LIRS catalog number 716.
  • Baird, A.H., R.C. Babcock and C.P. Mundy (2003). Habitat selection by larvae influences the depth distribution of six common coral species. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 252: 289-293.
  • View all references