Skeletal Features of Scleractinian Coral

• corallum (pl. coralla)

  • the entire coral skeleton

• corallite

  • skeleton produced by a single polyp

• calyx (pl. calices)

  • concave depression that houses the polyp

• theca

  • corallite wall

• septum (pl. septa)

  • skeletal plates that radiate into the calyx from the wall (sometimes called scleroseptum)

• coenosteum

  • skeletal material between walls of adjacent corallites

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