Isopora cylindrica – a Solomon Island Specialty

A few days ago I landed in the Solomon Islands, and while this destination is a popular topic on the pages of Reef Builders, in fact, it is my very first time visiting these far away islands! And, with well over a year of Indonesian coral spotting under my belt, it was about time I head off to explore the undersea world of a new country.

On my first dive, I quickly spotted a unique coral species. Looking like a mix between and Isopora palifera and Aeropora brueggemanni, (which I just found out was switched into was time to investigate! The uniform shaped round branches were different from the club-shaped branches of Isopora palifera, and they were much too large and wide to be Isopora brueggemanni. I knew this was a different coral but the best I could do underwater was document the find and review on land. After a quick scan of Corals of the World we were able to identify this coral as Isopora cylindrica. 

Author: Nicole Helgason

Publisher: reefbuilders.com

Date: July 23 2019

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