Brain Coral
Platygyra daedalea
Massive boulder coral with maze-like ridges, a reef-building cornerstone.
Family
Merulinidae
Avg Size
30-100 cm
Habitat
Brain coral is a common, widely distributed species across the Indo-Pacific, ranging from Madagascar, the east coast of Africa, the Red Sea, and the Gulf of Aden to Australia, Indonesia, Japan, and the South China Sea. It grows in a variety of reef settings, especially on back-reef slopes, from subtidal rocks down to about 30 m (100 ft), and is particularly abundant in the Gulf of Thailand and the South China Sea.
Behaviour
Its polyps expand at night to capture passing planktonic particles, but the coral gains most of its nourishment from the symbiotic dinoflagellates, or zooxanthellae, held within its tissues, which supply organic carbon and nitrogen from photosynthesis; for this reason the coral must grow in shallow, sunlit water. Brain coral is also aggressive toward competitors, using its tentacles to keep neighbouring colonies, such as the less-aggressive Favites complanata, from overshadowing it.
