Boulder Brain Coral

The boulder brain coral forms some of the biggest, toughest colonies on Caribbean reefs, its domed surface carved into a maze that looks strikingly like a brain.

Also known as: large-grooved brain coral

Its rounded, boulder-like shape and maze-like surface mark it out as a brain coral, but the single groove running down the centre of each ridge is the detail to check to confirm this species.

Colonies form large, rounded domes, though younger colonies can be flatter, disc-shaped mounds. The surface is covered in winding ridges and valleys, much like the folds of a brain. The ridges are usually brown with a single groove running along the top, while the valleys between them are tan, green, or white and stay an even width across the colony.

This is one of the main reef-building corals of the Caribbean, common on shallow reef tops, ledges, and slopes. It can grow down to 55 m, but is usually found much closer to the surface.

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  Cauliflower Coral

  Pocillopora verrucosa

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  Common Mushroom Coral

  Fungia fungites

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  Finger Coral

  Porites porites

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  Knobby brain coral

  Pseudodiploria clivosa

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  Mustard Hill Coral

  Porites astreoides

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  Symmetrical Brain Coral

  Pseudodiploria strigosa