divepix - Atlantic Mushroom Coral

Atlantic Mushroom Coral

Aspect:	Like most disc corals featured here, the Atlantic Mushroom Coral is solitary. As the photographs herewith show, it has a rough, bumpy surface. Usually green and brown. With diameters that can reach 18 centimetres, it is the largest of the disc corals. The masked gobie (typically 3cm long) on the right edge of the coral shown in one of the photos below provides a scale.
Population:	Common.
Notable feature:	CAUTION: Although there are three distinct species of such small disc-shaped coral in the area - Artichoke Coral or Scolymia cubensis, Solitary Disc Coral or Scolymia wellsi, and Atlantic Mushroom Coral or Scloymia lacera - which can only be differentiated with certainty by a microscopic observation of their corallite structure (and more particularly the shape of the tip of their septa). *However,* if a specimen boasts a diametre of more than 10 cm, chances are that it is an Atlantic Mushroom Coral.
Environment:	Against rocky slopes at relatively marked depths - at least 20 metres.
Behaviour:	-