Common name : labyrinthine brain coral, grooved brain coral, depressed brain coral

Aspect : distinct maze-like grooves and ridges, forming a brain-like pattern; deep, continuous valleys separated by sharp ridges (a signature trait distinguishing it from similar species); size up to 37 cm; brown, tan, yellowish-brown, or sometimes grayish (when alive)

Feeding : autotrophic feeding (primary) and heterotrophic feeding (supplementary). Primarily, they rely on photosynthesis from symbiotic dinoflagellate algae (zooxanthellae) living within their tissues, which provide up to 90% of their nutritional needs through sunlight. They supplement this by actively capturing zooplankton and other small particles using the tentacles of their polyps, especially at night when polyps extend fully

Environment : Caribbean Sea and Western Atlantic in reef flats, fore reefs, and back-reef zones on hard substrate for larval settlement at 1–40 m depth though most abundant in sunlit shallows (5–15 m)