James J. Peake, Australien
Info
Culicia hoffmeisteri is a stony coral that has no zooxanthellae and therefore depends on catching small zooplankton.
Besides Culicia hoffmeisteri, other species of the genus Culicia occur in Australia:
Culicia australiensis Hoffmeister, 1933
Culicia quinaria (Tenison-Woods, 1878)
Culicia tenella Dana, 1846
Culicia hoffmeisteri does not occur on the east coast of Australia (according to the Atlas of Living Australia), there are no records from the Coral Sea or the Great Barrier Reef, suggesting that the species prefers cooler waters.
Note: The Smithonian National Museum of Natural History, on the other hand, gives occurrences in Queensland and New South Wales, while the Review of the Recent Scleractinia (stony corals) of South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania gives at least Queensland.
The polyps of the stony coral sit in corallites that have a diameter of 5-6mm, this small diameter also limits the size of the individual polyps.
The largest colony found so far comprised 7 - 3cm from 100 corallites.
Predator: The sea spider Pycnogonum aurilineatum Flynn, 1919
Besides Culicia hoffmeisteri, other species of the genus Culicia occur in Australia:
Culicia australiensis Hoffmeister, 1933
Culicia quinaria (Tenison-Woods, 1878)
Culicia tenella Dana, 1846
Culicia hoffmeisteri does not occur on the east coast of Australia (according to the Atlas of Living Australia), there are no records from the Coral Sea or the Great Barrier Reef, suggesting that the species prefers cooler waters.
Note: The Smithonian National Museum of Natural History, on the other hand, gives occurrences in Queensland and New South Wales, while the Review of the Recent Scleractinia (stony corals) of South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania gives at least Queensland.
The polyps of the stony coral sit in corallites that have a diameter of 5-6mm, this small diameter also limits the size of the individual polyps.
The largest colony found so far comprised 7 - 3cm from 100 corallites.
Predator: The sea spider Pycnogonum aurilineatum Flynn, 1919
