Colpophyllia natans

Colpophyllia is a genus of stony corals in the family Mussidae. It is monotypic with a single species, Colpophyllia natans, commonly known as boulder brain coral or large-grooved brain coral. It inhabits the slopes and tops of reefs, to a maximum depth of 50 metres (164 ft). It is characterised by large, domed colonies, which may be up to 2 metres across, and by the meandering network of ridges and valleys on its surface. The ridges are usually brown with a single groove, and the valleys may be tan, green, or white and are uniform in width, typically 2 centimetres (0.8 in). The polyps only extend their tentacles at night.

Colpophyllia natans

Nhobgood Nick Hobgood · CC BY-SA 3.0 · 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
ColpophylliaPBDB
Diet
photosymbiotic, suspension feederPBDB, for Faviina
Life habit
colonial, clonalPBDB, for Faviina
Motility
stationary, attachedPBDB, for Faviina
Vision
blindPBDB, for Anthozoa
Environment
marinePBDB, for Scleractinia

Time the record covers

At least 5.3 million years on record.

The record covers at least 5.333 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 7.246 Mya to 0 Mya.

Miocene — about 3 of 116 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 13 of 116 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 86 of 116 occurrencesPleistoceneHolocene — about 14 of 116 occurrences7.5–7.2 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences7.2–7.0 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences7.0–6.7 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences6.7–6.5 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences6.5–6.2 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences6.2–5.9 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences5.9–5.7 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences5.7–5.4 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences5.4–5.2 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences5.2–4.9 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences4.9–4.6 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences4.6–4.4 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences4.4–4.1 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences4.1–3.9 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences3.9–3.6 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences3.6–3.4 Mya — about 2 occurrences3.4–3.1 Mya — about 2 occurrences3.1–2.8 Mya — about 2 occurrences2.8–2.6 Mya — about 2 occurrences2.6–2.3 Mya — about 5 occurrences2.3–2.1 Mya — about 5 occurrences2.1–1.8 Mya — about 5 occurrences1.8–1.5 Mya — about 4 occurrences1.5–1.3 Mya — about 4 occurrences1.3–1.0 Mya — about 4 occurrences1.0–775 ka Mya — about 4 occurrences775 ka–516 ka Mya — about 0.5 occurrences516 ka–258 ka Mya — about 0.4 occurrences258 ka–0 Mya — about 65 occurrences5.333 Mya11.7 ka7.7 Mya0 Mya

116 occurrences of Colpophyllia natans 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

116 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

18 formations

Moin — 9.97°N, 83.05°WMoin — 10.00°N, 83.03°WIronshore — 19.27°N, 81.37°WIronshore — 19.35°N, 81.37°WIronshore — 19.27°N, 81.33°WIronshore — 19.28°N, 81.15°WSan Luis — 12.50°N, 81.72°WSan Luis — 12.57°N, 81.72°WHato — 12.28°N, 69.07°WHato — 12.37°N, 69.10°WHato — 12.23°N, 69.02°WHato — 12.17°N, 68.88°WHato — 12.13°N, 68.98°WUrraca — 9.38°N, 82.24°WUrraca — 9.43°N, 82.32°WSeroe Domi — 12.13°N, 68.95°WQuebrada Chocolate — 9.98°N, 83.08°WIsla Colon — 9.37°N, 82.23°WIsla Colon — 9.42°N, 82.32°WIsla Colon — 9.30°N, 82.10°WKey Largo Limestone — 25.13°N, 80.38°WKey Largo Limestone — 24.93°N, 80.58°WOld Bank — 9.32°N, 82.11°WManchioneal — 18.19°N, 76.43°WPort Morant — 17.87°N, 76.32°WOld Pera — 17.87°N, 76.28°WHope Gate — 18.47°N, 77.40°WBlanquilla — 11.85°N, 64.62°WKey Largo Limestone/Miami Oolite — 24.67°N, 81.57°WRocky Bay — 32.27°N, 64.77°WGurabo — 19.53°N, 71.30°W

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The named rock units Colpophyllia natans has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 24 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Colpophyllia natans and its relatives

Pleistocene

Where Colpophyllia natans and its relatives were recorded in the Pleistocene.

Found in the same rock

231 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 59 sites for Colpophyllia natans, 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

28 references

Each of the 116 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. 16 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 content2

Picture of Colpophyllia natans

Credit
Nhobgood Nick Hobgood
Licence
CC BY-SA 3.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

Smithsonian Open Access was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

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 itColpophyllia through timeFormations of the PleistoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. (Houttuyn 1772)