1. Millepora is colonial, marine coral commonly found throughout tropical seas in shallow waters.
2. Millepora is found in the West Indies and U.S.A.
3. Millepora is a colonial hydroid coral.
4. Colony consists of upright leaf- like branching calcareous growths up to 30-60 cm in height or calcareous encrustations over corals or other objects. It is white or yellowish in colour.
5. The skeleton is calcareous secreted by ectoderm, never by perisarc.
6. The surface of the colony bears pores of two sizes, the larger gastropores
and the smaller dactylopores.
7. Colony has two kinds of zooids:
i) Gastrozooids are shorter, having mouths and tentacles. These protrude through gastropores and are nutritive in function.
ii) Dactylozooids are longer, slender, hollow with capitate tentacles and without mouth. These are enclosed in dactylopores and protective in function.
8. Medusae are budded off from coenosarc in special rounded chambers of the calcareous mass called ampullae.
9. Medusae have no mouth or tentacles or radial canals and are short-lived.
10. Dried colonies form irregular mass.
Source:
1. Practical Zoology Invertebrates by S.S.Lal. 2. A Manual of Practical Zoology Chordates by Dr. P.S. Verma.
