English Common Name

Walking Dendro, Shoe Coral

Scientific name

Heteropsammia cochlea

Taxonomy

Order: Scleractinia, Family: Dendrophylliidae

Size

Unknown. Commonly, a couple of cm.

Species Distribution

Unknown. Around Japan, Okinawa and the Philippines.

This is a species of coral found on sandy or silt bottoms in deep water. Heteropsammia cochlea is solitary and free-living, meaning not attached to the substrate, and has a hole in the bottom hosting a sipunculid worm. The worm walks and carries the coral around, and it prevents the coral from getting buried in sediments.

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Updated September 2018

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