Favia favus
Forskål, 1775
Description: Colonies are massive, rounded or flat. Corallites are conical. Septa are slightly irregular and widely spaced. Paliform lobes are poorly developed.
Color: A wide variety, often mottled, with pale calices.
Habitat: May be a dominant species on reef back margins.
Abundance: Common.
Similar Species: Favia speciosa, which has smaller, usually more compact corallites. Favia lizardensis and F. danae have corallites of similar size, but the former has more compact corallites with uniform septo-costae and colouration, and the latter has strongly beaded septo-costae. See also F. rosaria and F. maritima.
Source reference: Veron (2000). Taxonomic references: Scheer and Pillai (1974), Veron, Pichon and Wijsman-Best (1977). Identification guides: Veron (1986), Sheppard and Sheppard (1991), Nishihira and Veron (1995).
Large colonies are usually hemispherical or flattened. Honshu, Japan Photograph: Charlie Veron
Surface of a large colony. Scott Reef, Western Australia Photograph: Charlie Veron
Common appearance of Red Sea colonies. Sinai Peninsula, Egypt Photograph: Charlie Veron
Skeletal detail. Showing corallites.
Corallite detail. Flores, Indonesia Photograph: Neville Coleman