Montipora Identification 1.1: A Guide to the Plating and Laminar Species

Montipora is a beautiful diverse and popular group of aquarium corals with a wide range of colors and forms. With so many species described, it can be quite hard to know where to start when trying to identify a Montipora. Therefore we’re creating a guide to help classify and understand this fascinating group of corals.

Following the first post about Montipora identification, we continue our series with the first two groups of Montipora:

Laminar species with conspicuously radiating coenosteum ridges:

Translation: Colony with a leaf like, cup like shape but with obvious thick radiating ridges over its surface.

This groups is composed of 4 species:

Montipora foliosa

M. foliosa purple, note the conspicuous ridges.

Beautiful green polypes M. foliosa, note the conspicuous ridges.

M. foliosa with purple rim, note the conspicuous ridges.

Montipora foliosa is probably one of the most common cup or plating Montipora. It is characterized by very obvious, surface ridges that are perpendicular to the colony margin.They can have sometime tiny papillae.

Montipora cebuensis

Classic small colony shape of M. cebuensis

Montipora cebuensis is a very popular species, with very thick, irregular, radial surface ridges, that are perpendicular to the colony edge.

Montipora delicatula

Nice purple M. delicatula, note the very thin surface ridges.

Green polyps M. delicatula, very fragile, thin plates

Thin laminar plate, with very thin, irregular, radial, pale, surface ridges.

Montipora hodgsoni

M. hodgsoni in the middle of M. stellata

large colonies of Montipora are always a sight to remember. here Montipora hodgsoni in Komodo, Indonesia

Colonies of Montipora hodgsoni produces irregular thin plates. Polyps are very small, and the ridges are radial and irregular. No papillae are present but very small tuberculae that fuse into thin ridges.

Deep water flat colony, note the very small corallite

Large colonies in Indonesia note the irregular thin plate

Large colonies in Indonesia, note the irregular ridges

Laminar species without conspicuous coenosteum ridges:

Translation: Colony with a leaf like, cup like shape and without any obvious radial ridges on its surface.

This groups is composed of 5 species:

Montipora friabilis

Thicker, spongious, flat laminar colonies, with coarse, smooth surface. No present papillae or tuberculae. Corallite are immersed but clearly visible.

Classic Bali maricultured appearance, note the immersed corallite

Classic Indonesian colony appearance in the shallow water of Bali.

Montipora florida

Thin, fragile, tall, Cup like colony. Surface is flat and rough. Small papillae present but no tuberculae, which give a coarse but flat surface appearance. Very obvious look, easy to recognize.

Montipora aequituberculata

Note the papilae around the polyps and the fused turberculae into short ridge near the edge.

Colonies are encrusting or lamina, often overlapping or tubular. Corallites are immersed surrounded by papillae. They are fused into short ridges, near margin and may form hoods over corallite.

Shallow water Maricultured red M. aequituberculata from Bali

Shallow water Maricultured green M. aequituberculata from Bali

Montipora crassituberculata

Montipora friabilis in front with M. crassituberculata

A common species, colonies are sub-massive or encrusting plates.This species has thick corallite surrounding and surface papillae, that can form irregular, short, thin ridges toward the edge of the colony.

Montipora crassituberculata in Indonenesia

Montipora capricornis

Colonies are flat or thick, and grow into a scroll or cup shape. Corallites are immersed without surrounding or surface papillae nor tuberculae. The surface is coarse but otherwise devoid of prominent features.

This is the first part, in the next post we will look at some encrusting species.

Vincent Chalias

Vincent is a coral passionate aquarist with extensive experience in the industry, travelling the world to learn about corals. His background is a master degree in Marine Aquaculture. He set up the first Indonesian Coral mariculture farms at the beginning of the century and spent over 20 years in Indonesia running them. He's been extensively diving and documenting corals all over the Indo-Pacific.