Hydnophora coral (no English common name)

Hydnophora grandis

Valid name (WoRMS, AphiaID 287996, checked 2026-10-31).

English: Hydnophora coral (no English common name)
Scientific: Hydnophora grandis
Dhivehi: No recorded Dhivehi name

Group: Hard corals
Family: Merulinidae (brain, honeycomb and horn corals)
Depth and habitat: Reef-associated, recorded from 0 to 40 m
IUCN status: NE · Not EvaluatedNot Evaluated (NE)CITES Appendix II

Description

A coral whose surface is covered in small, cone-shaped ridges (hydnophores) between the cups. Colonies may be massive, encrusting or branching. It is told apart from related species only by close examination of the skeleton.

In the Maldives

Recorded from the Maldives: museum specimens (n=1); literature records via OBIS (Hexacorallians of the World (Fautin 2013), IndOBIS).

Sources

sealifebase.se /summary/Hydnophora-grandis.html
marinespecies.org /aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=287996

Dhivehi name source: No species-level Dhivehi name found in Dhivehi Wikipedia, SeaLifeBase (country: Maldives) or MRS/MMRI invertebrate publications.