Symmetrical brain coral
Diploria strigosa
(Dana, 1848)
Description:
Colonies form smoothly contoured plates to hemispherical domes, up to 1.8 m in diameter. The surfaces of the colonies have long valleys, which are often connected and usually convoluted, except near the colony's edge. Ridges evenly rounded, usually without a top groove, although occasionally with an extremely fine groove, especially near the colony's edge. The costae between adjacent corallites are continuous, and all costae are equal in thickness. Valleys are highly convoluted and often interconnected.
Color:
Green to brown, yellow-brown and bluish gray; valleys often lighter or have a contrasting color.
Corallites:
Septa in more than 3 complete cycles. Thickness of the septa unequal in the different cycles, with 12-24 septa per cm. Columella continuous between the corallites centers, thick, occupying half of the corallite width.
Habitat:
Inhabit many marine environments, down to 40 m.
Distribution:
Abundant to common in Florida, Bahamas and Caribbean.