Pillar coral

Pillar Coral
Conservation status
Vulnerable (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Cnidaria
Class:	Anthozoa
Order:	Scleractinia
Suborder:	Faviina
Family:	Meandrinidae
Genus:	Dendrogyra
Species:	D. cylindricus
Binomial name
Dendrogyra cylindricus Ehrenberg, 1834

Pillar corals (Dendrogyra cylindricus) are a type of hard coral which live in the western Atlantic Ocean. They are one of the digitate corals which resemble fingers, or a cluster of cigars, growing up from the sea floor, but without any secondary branching.

Pillar corals can grow to be up to 2.5 m (8 ft) tall. They can grow on both flat and sloping sea floors at a depth of between 1 and 20 m (65 ft). They are one of the few types of hard coral whose polyps can commonly be seen feeding during the day.

Gallery

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  A large colony at Marker 32 reef in the Florida Keys, June 2010

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  A small colony at Marker 32 reef in the Florida Keys, June 2010

References

• "Dendrogyra cylindricus". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=53428. 

External links

• brief video of small specimen in Florida Keys

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