Free-living scleractinian corals on reefs of the Seychelles Islands

Thirty-nine species of unattached scleractinian corals that belong to 22 genera of 9 families were found on the Seychelles reefs. Variations of the colony form of corals living on soft sediments under continuous wave action are described. Irrespective of their initial growth form and taxonomic position, corals assume a form close to spherical. Because of the worldwide deterioration of coral reefs, the adaptation to changing ecological conditions by reef-building corals needs to be studied.