Galaxea fascicularis

Galaxea fascicularis is a species of colonial stony coral in the family Euphylliidae, commonly known as octopus coral, fluorescence grass coral, and galaxy coral among various vernacular names.

Galaxea fascicularis

Diego Delso · 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 15 million years on record.

The record covers at least 15.98 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 23.04 Mya to 0 Mya.

Oligocene — about 0 of 82 occurrencesMiocene — about 5 of 82 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 5 of 82 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 65 of 82 occurrencesPleistocene24–23 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences23–22 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences22–21 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences20–20 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences20–19 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences19–18 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences17–16 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences16–16 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences13–13 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences11–10 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences10–9.4 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences9.4–8.6 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences8.6–7.8 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences7.8–7.1 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences7.1–6.3 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences6.3–5.5 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences5.5–4.7 Mya — about 1 occurrence4.7–3.9 Mya — about 1 occurrence3.9–3.1 Mya — about 1 occurrence3.1–2.4 Mya — about 2 occurrences2.4–1.6 Mya — about 3 occurrences1.6–785 ka Mya — about 3 occurrences785 ka–0 Mya — about 65 occurrences15.98 Mya11.7 ka23.5 Mya0 Mya

82 occurrences of Galaxea fascicularis 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

82 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

7 formations

Sobe — 26.39°N, 127.73°ESalayar — 6.18°S, 120.43°ENaha — 26.12°N, 127.70°EGhasr Ghand — 26.50°N, 60.00°ERiukiu Limestone — 24.75°N, 125.33°EEra Beds — 8.35°S, 146.28°ETakigawa — 28.32°N, 129.93°E

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The named rock units Galaxea fascicularis has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 70 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Galaxea fascicularis and its relatives

Pleistocene

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

Found in the same rock

512 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 40 sites for Galaxea fascicularis, 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

32 references

Each of the 82 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. 20 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 fascicularis

Credit
Diego Delso
Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Galaxea fascicularis was found in Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were 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 itGalaxea through timeFormations of the PleistoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. (Linnaeus 1767)