Orbicella annularis

Orbicella annularis, commonly known as the Boulder star coral, is a species of coral that lives in the western Atlantic Ocean and is the most thoroughly studied and most abundant species of reef-building coral in the Caribbean to date.^[3] It also has a comprehensive fossil record within the Caribbean.^[4][5] This species complex has long been considered a generalist that exists at depths between 0 and 80 metres (0 and 262 ft)^[6] and grows into varying colony shapes (heads, columns, plates) in response to differing light conditions.^[7] Only recently with the help of molecular techniques has O. annularis been shown to be a complex of at least three separate species.^[8][9][10] Those species are divided into O. annularis, O. faveolata, and O. franksi. This coral was originally described as Montastraea annularis.

Orbicella annularis
Conservation status
Endangered  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Cnidaria
Subphylum:	Anthozoa
Class:	Hexacorallia
Order:	Scleractinia
Family:	Merulinidae
Genus:	Orbicella
Species:	O. annularis
Binomial name
Orbicella annularis (Ellis and Solander, 1786)[2]
Synonyms[2]
List Astrea annularis (Ellis & Solander, 1786) Heliastrea annularis (Ellis & Solander, 1786) Madrepora annularis Ellis & Solander, 1786 Montastraea annularis (Ellis & Solander, 1786) Montastrea annularis (Ellis & Solander, 1786) [lapsus]

Orbicella annularis at Molasses Reef, Florida Keys