Octocorallia | 
Scleralcyonacea | 
Helioporidae
			
			
			
				Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range				
				
					Ecology				
				
			
			
				Reef-associated; depth range 0 - 3 m (Ref. 8294).  Tropical			
			
			
				
			
			
			
				Indo-West Pacific:  West to Red Sea; north to southern Japan; east to Samoa; and south to New Caledonia.
			
			
			
			
			
				Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age
			
			
				Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm Max length : 100.0 cm COLD male/unsexed; (Ref. 269)			
			
			
							
				
				
					
						Forms large colonies, more than 100 cm in diameter, that may be massive, or most commonly, composed of vertical branches or folia.  The surface appearance is very smooth, and the color in life is a distinctive grey-brown with white tips.  The entire skeleton is blue (Ref. 269).					
				
				
						
			
			
			
			
				
					Depth based from occurrence (Ref. 8294); to be replaced with a better reference. Most common in shallow water (Ref. 269), on reefs at typically less than 2 m.  Also in  exposed reef areas, reef flats and the intertidal zone (Ref. 98471).				
			
			
			
			
			
				Life cycle and mating behavior				
					Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae				
			
			
				
					Members of the class Anthozoa are either gonochoric or hermaphroditic.  Mature gametes are shed into the coelenteron and spawned through the mouth.  Life cycle:  The zygote develops into a planktonic planula larva.  Metamorphosis begins with early morphogenesis of tentacles, septa and pharynx before larval settlement on the aboral end.				
			
			
			
			
			
				Ross, M.A. and G. Hodgson 1981 A quantitative study of hermatypic coral diversity and zonation at Apo Reef, Mindiro, Philippines. Proceedings of the Fourth International Coral Reef Syposium, Manila 2:281-291. (Ref. 8294)
			
			
			
			
			
			
			
					
						IUCN Red List Status    
						 (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-1)
					
					
					
				
			
			
			
			
				CITES status   (Ref. 108899)
			
			
			
			
			
			
			
				
					Not Evaluated				
			
			
			
			
			
				Threat to humans  
			
			
				
									
			
			
			
			
			
			
			
			
				Human uses  
			
			
				Fisheries: of potential interest			
			
			
				 | FishSource | 			
			
			
			
			
			
Tools
			
			
			
			
				
					More information				
				
					 Trophic EcologyFood items (preys)Diet compositionFood consumptionPredators   Population dynamicsGrowthMax. ages / sizesLength-weight rel.Length-length rel.Length-frequenciesMass conversionAbundance   Life cycleReproductionMaturityFecunditySpawningEggsEgg developmentLarvae   PhysiologyOxygen consumption
  Human RelatedStamps, coins, misc.
  
			 
			
			
			
				Internet sources
			
			
			
			
			
				Estimates based on models
			
			
			
									
						Preferred temperature  					
				 (Ref. 
115969): 25.1 - 29.3, mean 28.5 (based on 2158 cells).			
 
			
			
			
			
			
						
							
				
					
						Fishing Vulnerability  					
					
					
						High vulnerability (60 of 100).					
				
						
						
			
									
						Price category  					
					
					Unknown.