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| soft corals text index | photo index |
| Phylum Cnidaria > Class Anthozoa > Subclass Alcyonaria/Octocorallia > Order Alcyonacea > Family Alcyoniidae |
| Omelette
leathery coral Sacrophyton sp.* Family Alcyoniidae updated Dec 11 Where seen? This large disc-shaped leathery coral that resembles a fried egg is commonly seen on our Southern shores. On coral rubble. Features: Colony 30-50cm or larger. The colony usually looks like a mushroom; with a flat, broad disk attached to a hard surface by a short stalk. The diameter of the disk is usually larger than that of the stalk. Polyps only found on the upperside of the broad disk. The edge of the disk may be highly ruffled, especially when submerged. There are no ridges or finger-like structures sticking out of the disk. When out of water, the colony often flops over into a flat disk that looks like a rather badly fried egg! The colony can also contract forming puckered looking balls. The common tissue may be pink, yellow, orange, greenish or brown. The colony has both autozooids and siphonozooids. Autozooid polyps have long slender body columns (1-2cm) with 8 branched tentacles that are usually white. The siphonozooids do not emerge from the body membrane and function to pump water through the colony. These are small, numerous and look like little dots, densely arranged among the taller autozooid polyps. The tall autozooids can retract completely into the common tissue. Out of water, the surface of the common tissue has two different kinds of holes; bigger ones where the retracted autozooids are, and smaller ones where the siphonozooids are. |
 St. John's Island, Aug 05  |
 Colony can contract when out of water. St. John's Island, Aug 05 |
 Colony usually mushroom shaped. Terumbu Pempang Laut, Aug 10 |
Omelette leathery corals on Singapore shores
 Pulau Semakau, Aug 11 |
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 Cyrene Reef, Jul 11 |
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 Sentosa, Apr 04 |
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 St. John's Island, Aug 05  |
 Pulau Jong, Jul 07  |
 Pulau Hantu, Jul 08 
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more photos of omelette leathery corals on Singapore shores
part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5
*ID needs to be confirmed. Species are difficult to positively identify without close examination.
On this website, they are grouped by external features for convenience of display
| Sacrophyton
species recorded for Singapore from Y. Benayahu and L. M. Chou, 28 Feb 2010. On some Octocorallia (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Alcyonacea) from Singapore.
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Links
References
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Australian Institute of Marine Science and the Museum and Art
Gallery of the Northern Territoriy. 264 pp|
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