"Genus Madrepora Linnaeus, 1758

Diagnosis. Colonial, extratentacular budding forming dendroid colonies. Coenosteum dense, no

costae, corallites filled internally by stereome. No pali; columella spongy or absent.

Type-species: Madrepora oculata Linnaeus, 1758, by subsequent designation (Verrill, 1901)." Cairns 1982, p. 13.