Scleractinia

Scleractinia, also called stony corals or hard corals, are marine animals in the phylum Cnidaria that build themselves a hard skeleton. The individual animals are known as polyps and have a cylindrical body crowned by an oral disc in which a mouth is fringed with tentacles. Although some species are solitary, most are colonial. The founding polyp settles and starts to secrete calcium carbonate to protect its soft body. Solitary corals can be as much as across but in colonial species the polyps are usually only a few millimetres in diameter. These polyps reproduce asexually by budding, but rema

Acroporidae is a family of small polyped stony corals in the phylum Cnidaria. The name is derived from the Greek "akron" meaning "summit" and refers to the presence of a corallite at the tip of each branch of coral. They are commonly known as staghorn corals and are grown in aquaria by reef hobbyists.

The Fungiidae () are a family of Cnidaria, commonly known as mushroom corals or plate corals. The family contains thirteen extant genera. They range from solitary corals to colonial species. Some genera such as Cycloseris and Fungia are solitary organisms, Polyphyllia consists of a single organism with multiple mouths, and Ctenactis and Herpolitha might be considered as solitary organisms with multiple mouths or a colony of individuals, each with its separate mouth.

Dendrophylliidae is a family of stony corals. Most (but not all) members are azooxanthellate and thus have to capture food with their tentacles instead of relying on photosynthesis to produce their food. The World Register of Marine Species includes these genera in the family:

Poritidae is a family of stony corals. Members of the family are colonial hermatypic (reef-building) corals. They are variable in size and form but most are massive, laminar or ramose as well as branching and encrusting. The corallites are compact with very little coenosteum covering the skeleton. The walls of the corallites and the septa are porous. J.E.N. Veron considers the family is not a natural grouping but is a miscellaneous collection of genera that do not fit well elsewhere.

The Agariciidae are a family of reef-building stony corals. This family includes cactus corals, plate corals, and lettuce corals. Members of the family include symbiotic algae called zooxanthellae in their tissues which help provide their energy requirements.

The Caryophylliidae are a family of stony corals found from the tropics to temperate seas, and from shallow to very deep water.

The Pocilloporidae are a family of stony corals in the order Scleractinia occurring in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.

The Meandrinidae are a family of stony corals. The name comes from the Greek, maiandros meaning "meandering", referring to the miniature, winding valleys found between the corallites. Fossil corals in this family have been found dating back to the Cretaceous.

Oculinidae is a family of colonial corals.

Merulinidae is a family of reef-building stony corals.

species of cnidarian

Rhizangiidae is a family of stony corals in the order Scleractinia. This family is closely related to Oculinidae. Members of this family are non-reef building corals and reproduce from stolons. The corallites are small and the septa are simple.

Astrocoeniidae is a family of stony corals. The family is distributed across the tropical and subtropical oceans worldwide.

Euphylliidae (Greek eu-, true; Greek phyllon, leaf) are known as a family of polyped stony corals under the order Scleractinia.

Turbinoliidae is a family of reef building stony corals.

Gardineriidae is a family of corals belonging to the order Scleractinia.

thumbnail|Close up of Diploria labyrinthiformis, [[Vieques, Puerto Rico]]

Micrabaciidae is a family of marine stony corals of the order Scleractinia.

Montastraea is a genus of colonial stony coral found in the Caribbean seas. It is the only genus in the monotypic family Montastraeidae and contains a single species, Montastraea cavernosa, known as great star coral. It forms into massive boulders and sometimes develops into plates. Its polyps are the size of a human thumb and fully extend at night.

Flabellidae is a family of marine corals. It consists of the following genera: Blastotrochus Milne Edwards & Haime, 1848 †Conosmilia Duncan 1865 Falcatoflabellum Cairns, 1995 Flabellum Lesson, 1831 Javania Duncan, 1876 Monomyces Ehrenberg, 1834 Placotrochides Alcock, 1902 Placotrochus Milne Edwards & Haime, 1848 Polymyces Cairns, 1979 Rhizotrochus Milne Edwards & Haime, 1848 †Tortoflabellum Squires, 1958 Truncatoflabellum Cairns, 1989

Pectiniidae was a family of stony corals, commonly known as chalice corals, but the name is no longer considered valid.

thumb|left|Cladocora from the Pliocene of Cyprus. Cladocora is a genus of corals in the order of stony corals.

Guyniidae is a family of corals belonging to the order Scleractinia (hard corals).

Pachyseris is a genus of cnidarians belonging to the family Agariciidae.

Fungiacyathus is a genus of corals belonging to the monotypic family Fungiacyathidae.

species of cnidarian

Anthemiphyllia is a genus of corals within the family Anthemiphylliidae. There are currently 8 extant and 2 extinct species assigned to the genus.

Psammocora is a genus of stony coral in the monotypic family Psammocoridae. Species of this genus are also known as cat's paw coral.

Deltocyathus is a genus of cnidarians belonging to the monotypic family Deltocyathidae.

species of cnidarian

Leptastrea is a genus of massive reef building stony corals known primarily from the Indo-Pacific. Although previously assigned to Faviidae, Budd et al. (2012) assigned it to Scleractinia incertae sedis based on phylogenetic results demonstrating the polyphyly of Faviidae. Assigned to family Leptastreidae by Rowlett (2020).

species of cnidarian

Lobophylliidae is a family of large polyp stony corals. The family was created in 2009 after a revision of the "robust" families of Faviidae, Merulinidae, Mussidae and Pectiniidae, which had been shown to be polyphyletic. The family Lobophylliidae was formed out of the Indo-Pacific species that had traditionally been included in Mussidae, and some of the species which had previously formed Pectiniidae, the remaining species from Pectiniidae having been merged into Merulinidae. The type genus is Lobophyllia.

Reef building corals

Stenocyathidae is a family of corals belonging to the order Scleractinia.

The Coscinaraeidae are a family of stony corals found in the Indo-Pacific region.

Caryophylliina is a suborder of stony corals, order Scleractinia.

Anthemiphylliidae is a family of corals belonging to the order Scleractinia.

Schizocyathidae is a family of stony corals. There are currently three genera included in this family and each of them is monotypic. Members of the family are azooxanthellate, deep water species.