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| hard corals text index | photo index |
| Phylum Cnidaria > Class Anthozoa > Subclass Zoantharia/Hexacorallia > Order Scleractinia > Family Pectiniidae |
| Carnation
corals Pectinia sp.* Family Pectiniidae updated Jan 09 Where seen? These beautiful hard corals with delicate fluted skeletons are sometimes seen on our Southern shores. Features: Colonies 10-15cm, forming rounded frilly carnation-like shapes. Corallites have thin, tall walls that form a maze-like pattern with deep valleys. The thin and fragile skeleton has delicate fluted patterns but these are usually hidden under a smooth layer of thick tissue. At night, the polyps are said to extend long, thin tentacles surrounding the corallite centres, which are randomly spaced over the surface. Colours seen include brown, yellow, orange, green, blue, purple, often with a sheen of two contrasting colours. Status and threats: None of our carnation corals are listed among the endangered animals of Singapore. However, like other creatures of the intertidal zone, they are affected by human activities such as reclamation and pollution. Trampling by careless visitors, and over-collection also have an impact on local populations. |
 Raffles Lighthouse, Jul 06  |
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 Raffles Lighthouse, Jul 06 |
Lettuce corals on Singapore shores
 Pulau Hantu, Aug 04  |
 Pulau Hantu, Aug 04  |
 Labrador, Jul 05  |
more photos of carnation corals on Singapore shores
part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5 | part 6
*Species are difficult to positively identify without close examination.
On this website, they are grouped by external features for convenience of display.
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References
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Australian Institute of Marine Science, Australia. 3 volumes.
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