Tubipora musica

*Tubipora musica*
Taxonomical systematics
	Scientific name	Tubipora musica Linnaeus, 1758
	Common names	Organ Pipe Coral, Pipe Coral, Organ Coral
	Genus	Tubipora Linnaeus, 1758
	Family	Tubiporidae
	Suborder	Stolonifera
	Order	Alcyonacea
	Subclass	Octocorallia
	Class	Anthozoa
	Phylum	Cnidaria

Local ecology
	Distribution	Tropical Western Pacific, Great Barrier Reef, Northern and Western Indian Ocean, Red Sea.
	Habitat	Wide range of habitats. Most abundant on mid-shelf reefs on Great Barrier Reef, with abundance increasing with depth to 20 m (Fabricius and Alderslade, 2001).

Biological characteristics
	Description	Colonies are massive and hemispherical to thick and encrusting. They consist of numerous red, hard, vertical tubes which look like organ pipes. A single polyp forms and occupies each tube. There is a system of canals inside horizontal plates that connect the polyps (Fabricius and Alderslade, 2001).
		Polyps are monomorphic and retractile and they have long bodies. They have a broad oral disc surrounded by eight tentacles with pinnules. The polyps are usually grey (Fabricius and Alderslade, 2001)
		Zooxanthellate
		Hermatypic
	Associated organisms	Sponges often fill the gaps between the tubes (Fabricius and Alderslade, 2001).

	*Organ Pipe Coral Tubipora musica* in aquarium.**

	*Close up of Organ Pipe Coral Tubipora musica* showing some expanded polyps and the calcareous skeleton.**
Captive care
	Lighting	Light tolerant, but prefers bright light (Borneman, 2001).
	Water flow	Brisk but not laminar (Borneman, 2001).
	Feeding	Sorokin (1991) found that 130% of their metabolic need for carbon could be met by products of photosynthesis, 40% by predation (zooplankton), 38% from bacterioplankton and 13% from dissolved organic matter. Artemia nauplii should be readily accepted and the coral should do well in a nutrient rich aquarium.
	Diseases and other maladies	"Brown-jelly-type" infections (Borneman, 2001).

References
	Borneman E.H. 2001. Aquarium Corals: Selection, Husbandry, and Natural History. Microcosm Ltd, Charlotte, VT. 464pp.
	Fabricius K. and Alderslade P. 2001. Soft Corals and Sea Fans: A comprehensive guide to the tropical shallow-water genera of the Central-West Pacific, the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea. AIMS, Townsville, Australia. 264pp.
	Sorokin Y.I. 1991. Biomass, metabolic rates and feeding of some common zoantharians and octocorals.. Aust. J. Mar. Freshwater Res. 42:729-741.