Green, cream or yellow growth spreads across the shallow reef. Fire coral lives with photosynthetic algae, but its name also recalls its stinging cells.
- Local names
- Pukakana
- Habitat
- Lagoon and reef
About this species
Millepora platyphylla forms colonies attached to hard surfaces. The original guide describes dome-like growth and records it in the Indo-Pacific and Red Sea at roughly 1–30 m depth.
Algae housed in the living tissues make food using sunlight. Fire corals are hydrozoans, a different cnidarian group from the stony corals that form most familiar reef colonies.
