Madreporaria
/ˌmadrɪpəˈrɛːrɪə
/plural noun Zoology
Another term for Scleractinia.Madreporaria have greatly variable shapes widely depending on the physical and chemical conditions of the environment....
- Madreporaria are closely related to the Actiniaria (the common sea anemone), but unlike the latter, they produce a calcium carbonate skeleton and have less developed muscles and ciliated body walls.
Derivatives
madreporarian
- Another factor contributing to the propagation of this disease is the decline of the madreporarians, which has cleared newly available surfaces for colonisation by the macro-algae which provide G. toxicus with an ecological niche.
- These conditions favour the construction of coral complexes by madreporarians.
Origin
Modern Latin (plural), from Madrepora (genus name), from Italian, probably from madre 'mother', with reference to the prolific growth of the coral.