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| hard corals text index | photo index |
| Phylum Cnidaria > Class Anthozoa > Subclass Zoantharia/Hexacorallia > Order Scleractinia > Family Siderastreidae > Psammocora species |
| Boulder
sandpaper coral Psammocora sp.* Family Siderastreidae updated Oct 11 Where seen? This smooth boulder-shaped coral with tiny star-like corallites is sometimes seen on some of our shores. Features: Colonies 20-40cm, boulder-shaped with irregular humps, some with rather angular bumps, others with polygonal ridges. The tiny corallites don't stick much out of the surface and merely give the skeleton a granular texture which gives the common name. When the polyp is retracted, the tiny holes of the corallite look like tiny petals of a flower. Polyps tiny (0.2cm) with short pointy tentacles. With the tentacles extended, the colony has a furry look. Colours seen include brown and bright green and bright blue. |
 Chek Jawa, Jun 05 |
 Granular surface giving their common name of Sandpaper coral. |
 A closer look at the tiny corallites that form petal-like shapes like a flower. |
 Tentacles are tiny too. |
Boulder sandpaper corals on Singapore shores
 Labrador, Jun 05 |
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 Angular bumps. |
 Pulau Hantu, Apr 07 |
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 St. John's Island, Aug 08 |
 Polygonal ridges. |
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more photos of boulder sandpaper corals on Singapore shores
northern shores | southern shores
*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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