[Originally posted to the Moorea Coral Reef LTER (MCR LTER) Marine Life Encyclopedia]

Tongue Coral or Boomerang Coral
(Herpolitha sp.)

Photo by Gerick Bergsma

Herpolitha is a coral which consists of a single large polyp, and can grow several feet in length.


	Throughout the tropical Indo-Pacific: from Africa and the Red Sea to Polynesia

	Reef slopes and lagoons

	Corals get energy through sunlight via photosynthetic symbionts (zooxanthellae) and plankton captured using stinging cells.

	The groove extending down the center of the coral (called an axial furrow), indicates the location of the polyp's mouth.

	- What are Corals? - Moorea Biocode Database