Animalia (Kingdom) - Cnidaria (Phylum) - Anthozoa (Class) - Hexacorallia (Subclass) - Scleractinia (Order) Meandrinidae (Family) - Eusmilia (Genus) -Eusmilia fastigiata (Species)
Eusmilia fastigiata (Pallas, 1766), also called smooth flower coral is found in the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico, the Bahamas and southern Florida, at depths down to about 60 metres (200 ft) though it is commonest between 5 and 30 metres (16 and 98 ft). It forms a low mound of stony calcium carbonate, the surface of which is covered with tubular projections, the corallites, in groups of one to three. During the day they are retracted back into the cup-shaped corallites.
This model was obtained as a part of a monitoring protocol on the CCRRP restoration area during my Ms thesis on Cozumel Island on 2018 collaborating with Global Coral Reef Alliance.
Pictures were taken with a Sony RX100V camera inside an underwater housing Sony without any artificial light source.
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