Table 1. Characters employed for identification of Palythoa species.

Species	P. tuberculosa	P. sp. yoron	P. mutuki	P. aff. mutuki
Typical environment	Backreef moat - out reef	Reef flat, tide pool	Reef flat, reef edge, surge channel	Reef flat, reef edge,
Coenenchyme development	Well-developed	Moderately developed	Not well developed; or stoloniferous	Not well developed; or stoloniferous
Polyp structure	immersae (= “embedded”)	intermediae (= “moderate”)	liberae (= “free-standing”)	liberae (=“free-standing”)
Surface structure of capitular ridges	Smooth	Smooth	Jagged	Smooth
Number of polyps/colony	>10	<10	>10	>10