The branching form of Millepora lives (or lived) along shallow lagoon and seaward reefs. It would form colonies up to at least 3m in diameter. Much of it died in a series of coral bleaching episodes between 2009 and 2016.
Some of these resemble Millepora dichotoma, a species thought to be a Red Sea endemic. This colony measuring at least 2m across was filmed living and healthy on 25 February 2013, having survived a bleaching event three and a half years earlier.
However, later that year, on 11 November, in the middle of the next bleaching event, the entire colony bleached. This time it did not recover. The branching form of this coral seemed to be the most susceptible of the Millepora forms to temperature, and was the first to bleach out. Other examples of bleaching and bleached Millepora colonies can be seen on this page.
The coral polyp tentacles are visible between the branches, forming a mesh to capture plankton from passing currents. Although like other reef building corals they can harvest food produced by their symbiotic photosynthetic zooxanthellae, they supplement it by injesting plankton.
Odd growths on a portion of this colony.
Created 4 April 2020
Updated 8 June 2023