Oculinidae

Oculina varicosa on the coast of Florida

The Oculinidae are a family of stony corals ( Scleractinia ), which mainly includes genera from cold and temperate seas.

The corals usually live in greater depth and are ahermatypisch, that is they do not live in symbiosis with zooxanthellae.

Madrepora oculata forms up to 40 centimeters high sticks and lives, for example, off the coast and in the fjords of Norway at depths of 50-1600 meters. It also occurs in the Mediterranean.

In contrast to warm-water corals cold water corals need hardly any light. They have been discovered only a few decades ago and threatened by ocean acidification and ground fishing. In 60-70 years should no longer exist about two -thirds of the known cold -water corals.

Genera

  • Bathelia Moseley, 1881
  • Cyathelia Milne -Edwards & Haime, 1849
  • Madrepora Linnaeus, 1758
  • Oculina Lamarck, 1816
  • Petrophyllia
  • Schizoculina Wells, 1937
  • Sclerhelia Milne -Edwards & Haime, 1850
  • Simplastrea Umbgrove, 1939
Hexacorallia John Edward Gray Genus
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