stony coral

American  

noun

1. a true coral consisting of numerous anthozoan polyps embedded in the calcareous material that they secrete.

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stony coral British  

noun

1. any coral of the order Madreporaria, having a calcareous skeleton, aggregations of which form reefs and islands

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Etymology

Origin of stony coral

First recorded in 1610–20

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

stony coral

They examined the effects of stony coral tissue loss disease on fish and benthic reef communities, which comprises anything living on the sea floor, like coral, algae, and sponges.

From Science Daily ● May 3, 2024

Now, over 20 species of stony corals such as brain and boulder corals — what Kettle calls the “key backbone of the reef” — have come down with stony coral tissue loss disease.

From Washington Post ● Aug. 16, 2022

“Their stony coral buddies don’t do a great job with producing sheets and trees,” Edmunds says.

From Science Magazine ● Jul. 12, 2022

Just five deep-sea stony coral species create reefs like the one we found in August.

From Salon ● Dec. 9, 2018

These walls were the express achievements of madrepores known by the names fire coral, finger coral, star coral, and stony coral.

From Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Walter, F. P.