Ontogenetic Development of Montipora capitata

Montipora capitata corals are taxonomically classified in the Domain Eukaryota, Kingdom Animalia, Phylum Cnidaria, Class Hexacorallia, Order Scleractinia, Family Acroporidea, Genus Montipora, Species M. capitata.

Corals of the World species factsheet

Dana, J.D. (1846a). Zoophytes, in United States Exploring Expedition. During the years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842. Under the command of Charles Wilkes, U.S.N. (Philadelphia: Lea and Blanchard), 7:1-740. (For species details see pp. 504-505 and Plate 47, Fig. 4)

Described also in 1989 in Veron and Hodgson (1989) from type specimens collected on reefs in the Philippines.

Veron, J E N, and Gregor Hodgson. 1989. “Annotated Checklist of the Hermatypic Corals of the Philippines!” PACIFIC SCIENCE 43.

Their life history is described as a ‘complex coral’ which forms two germ layers from a ‘prawn chip’ and becomes a spherical ‘gastrula’ with a visible ‘blastopore’(okub02013?).

(Okubo et al. 2013)

Okubo, Nami, Takuma Mezaki, Yoko Nozawa, Yoshikatsu Nakano, Yi-Ting Lien, Hironobu Fukami, David C. Hayward, and Eldon E. Ball. 2013. “Comparative Embryology of Eleven Species of Stony Corals (Scleractinia).” Edited by Mónica Medina. PLoS ONE 8 (12): e84115. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0084115.