Specimen F 83872 Stony Coral, Anthozoa Ehrenberg, 1834

Summary

This coral belongs to the group called stony corals because they build a hard skeleton of calcium carbonate. While the hard dry skeleton is all that remains here, when alive it would have been covered by the colony of polyps that built it and may have been quite colourful.

This specimen came from Mauritius.

Corals are threatened by reduction in reef habitat from climate change and other human impacts as well as the increased likelihood of bleaching events as global average temperature increases. International trade in most corals and coral products is illegal.