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Family
Agariciidae
False
Brain Corals
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Named for
the brain-like appearance of Pavona varians. These corals are quite
variable in appearance and difficult to identify at times. They have small
star-shaped calices with fine radiating septa that are shared by adjacent
calices making it difficult to find where each individual begins and the other
ends.
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HAWAII
Pavona
duerdeni 
Hanauma Bay, Oahu, 20 feet
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Waimanalo, Oahu, 20 feet |
Haleiwa Trench, Oahu, 30 feet
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Sharks Cove, Oahu, 20 feet |
Sharks Cove, Oahu, 20 feet
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Sharks Cove, Oahu, 20 feet |
Portlock, Oahu, 20 feet |
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PORKCHOP CORAL
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Fairly common in shallow water exposed to surge.
Forms massive colonies of thick, blunt to angular plates
with tiny snowflake-like calices. Light gray, tan, or yellow.
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Pavona
maldivensis
Branching form, Haleiwa Trench, Oahu, 30 feet
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Laminar form, Haleiwa Trench, Oahu, 30 feet |
Haleiwa Trench, Oahu, 30 feet
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Haleiwa Trench, Oahu, 30 feet |
Gray colony, Haleiwa Trench, Oahu, 30 feet |
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MALDIVES CORAL
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Uncommon as small encrustations with on shaded vertical
surfaces. May also form small plates with finger-like projections.
Calices are widely separated, elevated and septa are
angular with flaring ends. Rusty brown to gray, raised surfaces light.
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Pavona
varians
Kapoho, Hawaii, 5 feet
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Pupukea, Oahu, 35 feet |
Haleiwa Trench, Oahu, 10 feet
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Haleiwa Trench, Oahu, 10 feet |
Haleiwa Trench, Oahu, 60 feet
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Haleiwa Trench, Oahu, 60 feet |
Haleiwa Trench, Oahu, 10 feet
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Kewalo Pipe, Oahu, 50 feet |
YO-257 wreck, Oahu, 90 feet |
YO-257 wreck, Oahu, 90 feet
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YO-257 wreck, Oahu, 90 feet
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Kewalo, Oahu, 50 feet |
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FALSE BRAIN CORAL
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Common as small encrusting patches on vertical surfaces.
May also form plates or nodular masses over dead coral. Color typically light brown, rarely green, rust, or dark
gray.
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Gardineroseris
planulata
Honaunau, Kona, Hawaii, 50 feet |
Haleiwa Trench, Oahu, 40
feet |
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PLANULATE CORAL
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Rare at a few locations on Oahu, Maui,
Kaho'olawe, and
Hawaii. Forms massive encrustations with free edges, calices are
large and angular. Light golden brown with white edges. Hawaii
& the Indo-Pacific. |
Leptoseris
hawaiiensis
Moku Manu Pinnacle, Oahu,
150 feet
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Moku Manu Pinnacle, Oahu,
150 feet |
100 ft. Hole, Waikiki, Oahu, 85 feet |
Kewalo Hump, Oahu, 90 feet
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Kewalo Hump, Oahu, 90 feet |
Kewalo Hump, Oahu, 90 feet |
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HAWAIIAN CORAL
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Rare in deep water.
Septa are wavy with smooth texture, calices are elevated
and tilted toward the outside. Very similar to L. scabra.
Hawaii & the Indo-Pacific. |
Leptoseris
incrustans
Halona Blowhole, Oahu, 30 feet |
Halona Blowhole, Oahu, 30 feet
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Haleiwa Trench, Oahu, 60 feet |
Haleiwa Trench, Oahu, 60 feet
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Haleiwa Trench, Oahu, 60 feet |
Haleiwa Trench, Oahu, 60 feet
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Haleiwa Trench, Oahu, 50 feet |
Haleiwa Trench, Oahu, 50 feet
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Haleiwa Trench, Oahu, 60 feet
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Haleiwa Trench, Oahu, 60 feet
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Haleiwa Trench, Oahu, 60 feet |
Haleiwa Trench, Oahu, 60 feet |
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ENCRUSTING CORAL
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Fairly common on vertical surfaces
at scuba depths. Forms small encrustations that are very lumpy
where exposed to light or nearly smooth in shaded areas, calices are
difficult to distinguish, septa fine and wavy. Dark brown to red, raised surfaces
lighter.
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Leptoseris
mycetoseroides
Puako, Hawaii, 20 feet
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Haleiwa Trench, Oahu, 50 feet |
Haleiwa Trench, Oahu, 50 feet |
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ROPY CORAL
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Rare on shaded vertical surfaces.
Forms large encrusting patches with immersed calices
surrounded by ropy ridges. Dark brown and green.
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Leptoseris
scabra
Maui Ocean Center
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Maui Ocean Center |
Rainmaker Point, American Samoa, 50 feet |
Rainmaker Point, American Samoa, 50 feet |
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ROUGH CORAL
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Rare in deep water. Septa are wavy with beaded texture, calices are elevated
and tilted toward the outside. Very similar to L. hawaiiensis.
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Leptoseris
tubulifera
Maui Ocean Center
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Maui Ocean Center |
Moku Manu Pinnacle, Oahu, 130 feet |
Haleiwa Trench, Oahu, 80 feet |
TUBE CORAL
| A rare endemic from deep water.
A small species with distinctive tubular columns and fine
wavy septa. |
Leptoseris
papyracea
PAPYRUS CORAL
| Uncommon on sandy rubble at
depths greater than 150 feet. Forms clumps. Branches are
less than 1/4 inch wide and very fragile. Hawaii, Indo-Pacific
& Tropical Eastern Pacific. |
INDO-PACIFIC
Pavona clavus
Wakatobi, Indonesia, 35 feet
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Wakatobi, Indonesia, 35 feet |
Cabo Pulmo, Baja California, Mexico |
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EASTERN
PACIFIC 
Pavona gigantea
Cabo Pulmo, Baja California, Mexico
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Cabo Pulmo, Baja California, Mexico |
Cabo Pulmo, Baja California, Mexico |
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