Finger Coral

Finger coral forms patches of short, finger-like branches spreading across the reef. It is common and tough, able to grow in many different reef settings.

Its fingers are wider than those of related Porites corals, so a lookalike branching coral with narrower, thinner fingers is a different species.

This coral grows as clusters of short, blunt-tipped fingers, sometimes packed close together and sometimes spaced apart. The fingers can curve or hook and point in every direction. Colour is usually white or a pale blue-grey.

Finger coral grows in shallow tropical seas, down to about 50 m, on both the front and back parts of reefs where the water stays fairly clear. It also grows on mangrove roots and among seagrass beds.

Finger coral gets food from algae living in its tissue, which use the coral's waste and sunlight to produce oxygen and nutrients. Unlike most stony corals, its polyps often stretch out their tentacles to feed during the day, not just at night.

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  Boulder Brain Coral

  Colpophyllia natans

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  Cauliflower Coral

  Pocillopora verrucosa

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  Common Mushroom Coral

  Fungia fungites

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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