Verrill, 1864
Ctenactis echinata (4)
Type species: Ctenactis echinata (Pallas, 1766)
Total number of species estimated: 3
Characteristics: Corals zooxanthellate, monostomatous (with one mouth) or polystomatous by additional mouths along central fossa, free-living, oval to elongate. Maximum diameter 48 cm. Septal teeth angular, sharp or lobate and covered by evenly distributed granulations. Corallum wall perforate. Costae show blunt, granulated (echinose) costal spines (Hoeksema, 1989). Colour cream, light or dark brown, in one species with white tentacles, in another with apink or violet margin.
Ecology: Most common on reef slopes.
Range: Indo- West Pacific.
Additional remarks: C. albitentaculata Hoeksema, 1989, is monostomatous, C. echinata (Pallas, 1766) shows additional stomata in about 20% of the larger corals, whereas C. crassa.(Dana, 1846) is always polystomatous in large individuals. All stomata are located in a row along the central fossa.
Key references: Hoeksema, 1989.