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The blue coral is the only extant octocoral with a massive skeleton, [3] which is composed of fibrocrystalline aragonite (calcium carbonate). It is a hermatypic zooxanthellaete species with either blue or green-grey polyps located within its skeleton, with each containing eight tentacles. Its colonies are either columnar, plate like or branched.
The genus consists of reef building corals, and is ancient and highly conserved. [2] The species heliopora coerulea is also known as "blue coral". [2] Species
This hard coral is common in shallow water exposed to surge, in the highest wave energy environments. [8] M. flabellata is less common and more restricted to shallow reef habitat, colonies of the species were found between 1 and 4 m depth. [9] The species is a broadcasting, simultaneous hermaphrodites that release egg-sperm bundles. [9]
Like many snappers, it inhabits coral reefs, occurring in both shallow lagoons and on outer reef slopes to depths of at least 60 m (200 ft), at depths reaching 180 m (590 ft) at the Marquesas Islands and 265 m (869 ft) in the Red Sea. In Hawaii, they spend some time over seagrasses and sandy substrates. [7]
Some species of other reef inhabitants prey on this species of sea star. Various pufferfishes, Charonia species (triton shells), harlequin shrimp, and even some sea anemones have been observed to eat whole or parts of the sea stars. [3] The Blue Linckia is also prone to parasitization by a species of the parasitic gastropod Thyca crystallina.
[30] [32] Once the coral bit grows to about the size of a human hand, that is a sign that it is ready to my transplanted onto a rocky reef to instigate natural coral reef restoration. [30] [32] This process is extremely labor-intensive and requires patience, but has been seen as effective upon sightings of tropical fish returning to the reefs. [32]