Goniopora stokesi

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Characters: Colonies are free-living or attached, hemispherical or (rarely) have short thick columns. Calices have high walls which have a ragged appearance. Columellae are broad and irregular. Small satellite colonies often occur embedded in the living tissue of parent colonies. Polyps are of mixed sizes, the larger being elongate. Colour: Pale brown or green, usually with green tentacle tips. Similar species: Goniopora pendulus, which forms larger colonies with polyps of equal size and does not form satellite colonies. See also G. lobata. Habitat: Usually found free-living, on soft substrates. Abundance: Usually uncommon, but conspicuous.

Source reference: Veron (2000). Taxonomic reference: Veron and Pichon (1982). Identification guides: Veron (1986), Sheppard and Sheppard (1991), Nishihira and Veron (1995).