Galaxea astreata

Galaxea astreata is a common and cosmopolitan large polyp scleractinian coral, in the family Euphylliidae. It has a sub-massive morphology. It is found in the Indo-Pacific and is the most abundant coral species in Xuwen Coral Reef National Nature Reserve. G. astreata is acclimatized to water temperatures ranging from about 27 ± 0.5 °C. It is generally a shallow-water coral and is commonly seen at a depth of around 15 meters. It can range from a depth of 1 meter to 30 meters. It generally prefers clear, salt waters over turbid brackish waters.

Galaxea astreata

Chaloklum Diving · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
GalaxeaPBDB
Diet
photosymbiotic, suspension feederPBDB, for Euphylliidae
Life habit
colonial, clonalPBDB, for Euphylliidae
Motility
stationary, attachedPBDB, for Euphylliidae
Vision
blindPBDB, for Anthozoa
Environment
marinePBDB, for Scleractinia

Time the record covers

At least 11 million years on record.

The record covers at least 11.63 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 13.82 Mya to 0 Mya.

Miocene — about 4 of 36 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 10 of 36 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 20 of 36 occurrencesPleistocene14–13 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences13–13 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences12–12 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences11–11 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences11–11 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences11–10 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences10–9.5 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences9.5–9.1 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences9.1–8.6 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences8.6–8.1 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences8.1–7.6 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences7.6–7.2 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences7.2–6.7 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences6.7–6.2 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences6.2–5.7 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences5.7–5.3 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences5.3–4.8 Mya — about 2 occurrences4.8–4.3 Mya — about 2 occurrences4.3–3.8 Mya — about 2 occurrences3.8–3.3 Mya — about 2 occurrences3.3–2.9 Mya — about 2 occurrences2.9–2.4 Mya — about 2 occurrences2.4–1.9 Mya — about 2 occurrences1.9–1.4 Mya — about 2 occurrences1.4–955 ka Mya — about 2 occurrences955 ka–477 ka Mya — about 2 occurrences477 ka–0 Mya — about 14 occurrences11.63 Mya11.7 ka14.3 Mya0 Mya

36 occurrences of Galaxea astreata on record, most of them in the Pleistocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

36 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

10 formations

Naha — 26.12°N, 127.70°ETokelau — 17.32°S, 178.99°WSalayar — 5.90°S, 120.50°ESalayar — 6.08°S, 120.48°ERiukiu Limestone — 24.75°N, 125.33°ERyukyu Limestone — 24.50°N, 124.26°EEra Beds — 8.35°S, 146.28°EUpper Kalibeng — 8.00°S, 114.00°ESondé — 8.00°S, 114.00°ENias — 1.12°N, 97.62°ETogopi — 5.25°N, 119.20°E

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The named rock units Galaxea astreata has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 21 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Galaxea astreata and its relatives

Pleistocene

Where Galaxea astreata and its relatives were recorded in the Pleistocene.

Found in the same rock

347 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 18 sites for Galaxea astreata, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

18 references

Each of the 36 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 6 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content1

Picture of Galaxea astreata

Credit
Chaloklum Diving
Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan was found. Smithsonian Open Access, MorphoSource and Sketchfab were all searched.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itGalaxea through timeFormations of the PleistoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. (Lamarck 1816)