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Family
Acroporidae
Rice
Corals
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Rice corals
are abundant throughout the Indo-Pacific and Hawaii. The skeleton is quite
porous and therefore relatively fragile but fast-growing. They are found
in a variety of habitats and especially fine plate-like growths may be found in
quiet bays. Calices are small, simple pits surrounded by rods, nodules, or
fused ridges. Identification of many species is difficult even for
experts.
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Photographed by Bill Unruh
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HAWAII
Montipora
capitata
Hanauma Bay, Oahu, 25 feet
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Haleiwa Trench, Oahu, 50 feet |
Sharks Cove, Oahu, 3 feet
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Haleiwa Trench, Oahu, 50 feet |
Kaiona, Waimanalo, Oahu, 5 feet
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Moku O Loe, Kaneohe Bay, Oahu, 2 feet |
Kaiona, Waimanalo, Oahu, 5 feet
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Moku O Loe, Kaneohe Bay, Oahu, 2 feet |
Moku O Loe, Kaneohe Bay, Oahu, 2 feet
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Moku O Loe, Kaneohe Bay, Oahu, 2 feet |
Moku O Loe, Kaneohe Bay, Oahu, 3 feet
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Moku O Loe, Kaneohe Bay, Oahu, 2 feet |
Moku O Loe, Kaneohe Bay, Oahu, 3 feet
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Moku O Loe, Kaneohe Bay, Oahu, 3 feet |
Moku O Loe, Kaneohe Bay, Oahu, 3 feet
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Moku O Loe, Kaneohe Bay, Oahu, 2 feet |
Moku O Loe, Kaneohe Bay, Oahu, 8 feet
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Moku O Loe, Kaneohe Bay, Oahu, 10 feet |
Tumor, Haleiwa Trench, Oahu, 8 feet
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Moku O Loe, Kaneohe Bay, Oahu, 3 feet |
Moku O Loe, Kaneohe Bay, Oahu, 3 feet
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Moku O Loe, Kaneohe Bay, Oahu, 3 feet |
Moku O Loe, Kaneohe Bay, Oahu, 8 feet
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Moku O Loe, Kaneohe Bay, Oahu, 8 feet |
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RICE CORAL
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Common in a variety
of habitats and possessing many growth forms including encrusting patches,
massive bommies, branched thickets, and overlapping plates. Tiny calices
are surrounded by rice-like tubercles and the basic color is white and dark
brown. Spawning occurs after the new moon during summer months about 9:00
PM.
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Montipora
flabellata
Kapoho, Hawaii, 4 feet
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Hanauma Bay, Oahu, 25 feet |
Sharks Cove, Oahu, 25 feet
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Firehouse, Oahu, 10 feet |
Firehouse, Oahu, 10 feet
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Haleiwa Trench, Oahu, 8 feet |
Sharks Cove, Oahu, 25 feet
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Sharks Cove, Oahu, 25 feet |
Haleiwa Trench, Oahu, 8 feet |
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BLUE RICE CORAL
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Common in shallow
water as encrusting sheets with bright blue fluorescent color. Calices are
immersed, surrounded by rods that often fuse into irregular ridges.
Endemic to Hawaii.
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Montipora
patula
Haleiwa Trench, Oahu, 45 feet
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Haleiwa Trench, Oahu, 40 feet |
M. verilli form, Haleiwa Trench, Oahu, 45 feet
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M. verilli form, Haleiwa Trench, Oahu, 45 feet |
Hanauma Bay, Oahu, 40 feet
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Hanauma Bay, Oahu, 30 feet |
Hanauma Bay, Oahu, 30 feet
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Kewalo, Oahu, 25 feet |
Kahe Point, Oahu, 25 feet
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Kahe Point, Oahu, 25 feet |
Wailupe, Oahu, 5 feet |
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RINGED RICE CORAL
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Very common on
shallow reefs as encrusting masses and sometimes forming large plates.
Calices are elevated and surrounded a ring of tiny rods, giving the colony a
prickly appearance. Golden brown with white margins, some polyps are
purple.
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Montipora
incrassata
Hanauma Bay, Oahu, 30 feet
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Sharks Cove, Oahu, 40 feet |
Hanauma Bay, Oahu, 30 feet
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Kona Village, Hawaii, 20 feet |
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PITTED RICE CORAL
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Uncommon in shallow
water exposed to surge. Forms thick knobby clumps or spreading sheets with
thick margins. Tiny calices are immersed in deep cavities sometimes
separated by short irregular ridges. Light grayish brown with
white. Reported from Hawaii as M. studeri.
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Montipora
dilatata
Midway Lagoon, 6 feet
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Midway Lagoon, 6 feet |
Midway Lagoon, 6 feet
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Midway Lagoon, 6 feet
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Midway Lagoon, 6 feet |
Midway Lagoon, 6 feet
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Midway Lagoon, 6 feet
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PURPLE RICE CORAL
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Common in the lagoons
of Midway and Kure but very rare elsewhere. Purple in the
NWHI and brown in the main islands. May be confused with Montipora
flabellata, M. tuberculosa, and M. turgescens.
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INDO-PACIFIC
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