Mountainous Star Coral

Colonies of this coral are solid and very large, forming a mound with a skirt. The surface is smooth and undulating, with small lumps, bulges or lobes. The corallites, the stony cups in which the polyps sit, are about 5 mm (0.2 in) in diameter and cover the entire surface of the coral. The colour is usually a pale brown, yellowish green and grey but may be deep brown, with fluorescent green highlights. This coral is part of a species complex including the closely related Orbicella annularis and Orbicella franksi, but the former has more distinct nodules or small columns and the latter has a more irregular, lumpy surface.

Orbicella faveolata occurs in shallow waters in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, its range including Florida, united states, the Bahamas, Venezuela and possibly Bermuda. It is found on both the back reef and fore reef slopes of fringing reefs at depths of up to 40 m (131 ft). It is often the most abundant coral species on fore reef slopes between 10 and 20 m (33 and 66 ft).

Orbicella faveolata is a slow-growing species and the rate at which new colonies are formed is less than the rate at which mature colonies die. It is susceptible to bleaching and to several coral diseases including stony coral tissue loss disease, yellow-band disease, black band disease and white plague. Numbers of individuals are believed to have declined by over 50% in the last thirty years and the International Union for Conservation of Nature lists its conservation status as being endangered.