Alveopora verrilliana
Dana, 1872
Description: Colonies are composed of short irregularly dividing knob-like branches. Corallites have short blunt septal spines and a palisade of vertical spines above the wall. Polyps are long when extended.
Color: Dark greenish-brown, grey or chocolate, sometimes with white oral cones and/or tentacle tips.
Habitat: Shallow reef environments.
Abundance: Uncommon.
Similar Species: Alveopora fenestrata, which is distinguished by growth-form, lack of spines around the corallites and larger corallites.
Source reference: Veron (2000). Taxonomic reference: Veron and Pichon (1982). Identification guides: Veron (1986), Nishihira and Veron (1995).
The characteristic appearance of a lobed colony. Marion Reef, Coral Sea Photograph: Ed Lovell
Skeletal detail. Electron micrograph showing vertical spines surrounding the corallite.
Adjacent colonies of Alveopora verrilliana (with polyps extended) and A. fenestrata (with polyps retracted). Marion Reef, Coral Sea Photograph: Ed Lovell
Skeletal detail. Showing corallites.