Caulastraea furcata, Torch coral

Caulastraea furcata   Dana, 1846

Torch coral
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Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | CoL | ITIS | WoRMS

Hexacorallia | Scleractinia | Merulinidae

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Reef-associated; depth range 0 - 40 m (Ref. 848).  Tropical; 30°N - 27°S, 39°E - 172°W (Ref. 848)

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Introductions

Indo-Pacific: From Somalia and Madagascar, east to the Samoas, north to Ryukyu, south to New Caledonia.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm

Short description Morphology

Formation: phaceloid. Corallites: irregular, crowded if in restricted space; less than 19 mm across. Septa: exsert, irregular, varying thickness. Polyps: fleshy; thick septa give prominent radiating stripes to the upper corallite surface. Color: brown or green with green oral discs (Ref. 848).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Occurs in protected reef slopes with partly sandy substrate (Ref. 848). Also in lagoons (Ref. 98471). No bleaching observed in Palau (Ref. 66144).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Hermaphroditic (Ref. 113712). Mature gametes are shed into the coelenteron and spawned through the mouth. Life cycle: The zygote develops into a planktonic planula larva. Metamorphosis begins with early morphogenesis of tentacles, septa and pharynx before larval settlement on the aboral end (Ref. 833).

Main reference References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Nemenzo, F. Sr. 1986. (Ref. 910)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-2)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 24 October 2023

CITES status (Ref. 108899)


CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

Human uses


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Physiology
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Human Related
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References

Internet sources

BHL | BOLD Systems | CISTI | DiscoverLife | FAO(Publication : search) | Fishipedia | GenBank (genome, nucleotide) | GloBI | Gomexsi | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | PubMed | Tree of Life | Wikipedia (Go, Search) | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 115969): 25 - 29, mean 28 (based on 804 cells).
Price category (Ref. 80766): Unknown.