Organ pipe coral

Organ pipe coral

Full corallum of Tubipora musica.

Skeleton of Tubipora musica

Scientific classification

Kingdom:

Animalia

Phylum:

Cnidaria

Class:

Anthozoa

Subclass:

Alcyonaria

Order:

Alcyonacea

Suborder:

Stolonifera

Family:

Tubiporidae

Genus:

Tubipora

Species:

T. musica

Binomial name
The Organ pipe coral (Tubipora musica) is an alcyonarian coral native to the waters of theIndian Ocean and the central and western regions of the Pacific Ocean. It is the only knownspecies of the genus Tubipora. This species is a soft coral but with a unique, hard skeleton ofcalcium carbonate that contains many organ pipe-like tubes. On each tube is a series ofpolyps which each have eight feather-like tentacles. These tentacles are usually extended during the day, but will swiftly withdraw with any sort of disturbance. The skeleton is a bright red color, but is typically obscured by the numerous polyps, which are green or gray in color. In size, colonies can reach up to a meter across, while the individual polyps are typically less than 3 mm wide and a few mm long. They are restricted to shallow waters and tend to live in sheltered areas. They eat plankton. They are close relatives to other soft coral and sea fans.[1][2]

Tubipora musica
Linnaeus, 1758