第 1126 號，共 1 402 號

Plate fire coral

Millepora platyphylla

名字的由來： The name "fire coral" comes from its stinging cells, which cause a burning feeling on human skin.1

只是會痛會痛，但不會對你造成嚴重傷害。

水母和會螫人的海洋生物

螫吃：肉

對人的危險: 疼痛可能會非常痛，但幾乎從來不會很嚴重。

Plate fire coral is a reef-building animal that looks like a coral but is actually a relative of jellyfish. It grows in shallow, sunny reef water across the Indo-Pacific, from the Red Sea and East Africa to northern Australia and French Polynesia. It matters because it helps build reefs and can give a painful burning sting.1

分布在

Red Sea and East Africa to northern Australia and French Polynesia, across the Indo-Pacific1

太平洋, 印度洋, 紅海, 珊瑚海, 菲律賓海, 帝汶海與阿拉弗拉海, 孟加拉灣

首頁

It lives in the shallows of the reef crest, usually above 5 metres deep but sometimes down to 10 metres. It is also found in the surf zone and in the spur and groove zone, where waves are strong.1

長度

2 m 到 3 m (6,6 ft 到 9,8 ft)1

最高速度

大約 0,01 km/h（0,01 mph）

游泳, 粗略估計

牠吃什麼？

It catches zooplankton, tiny animals floating in the water, using feeding polyps whose mouths open and close when food is present. It also gets nutrients from algae living inside its tissue, which make energy through photosynthesis.1

Plate fire coral 的照片 — Plate fire coral。照片：Esv - Eduard Solà Vázquez。 CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons.

怎麼認出牠

Colonies are yellow-green or light-brown, and the tips may be white.1
It usually grows in plate-like or blade-like forms, though it can also form branches, fans or encrusting layers.1
Colonies often measure 200 to 300 cm across and can be up to 200 cm high.1

常被誤認為： Other fire corals, such as Millepora dichotoma and Millepora exaesa, are often confused with it. Plate fire coral is generally plate-like or blade-like, which helps tell it apart from them.1

毒液力量

螫

毒液從螫針出來。

牠的毒液有什麼作用？

Its defensive polyps carry stinging cells called nematocysts. Contact with them causes a burning sensation in humans.1

牠對人有多危險？

對人的危險: 疼痛可能會非常痛，但幾乎從來不會很嚴重。

牠害怕時會做什麼？

Its defensive polyps have long tentacles that sting anything that touches them.1

如果牠螫人

離開水裡，把觸手拿掉（戴手套或用布）。
熱帶箱形水母：在螫傷處倒醋至少 30 秒，求救，並準備好做心肺復甦術（CPR）。藍瓶水母和大多數其他水母：用海水沖洗，再用熱水止痛。

一定要先打緊急電話（112、000、911）。這是一般急救指引，不是醫療建議。急救基本知識

注意安全

絕對不要碰、抓或捉弄野生動物，就算是很小的動物，就算牠看起來在睡覺或已經死了也一樣。
給牠空間。如果遇到了，保持冷靜，慢慢往後退，讓牠自己離開。
如果被牠螫了：保持冷靜，保持不動，打緊急電話（112、000、911）或趕快去醫院。記住牠的樣子，有照片會很有幫助。

牠不是想來抓你。牠用毒液來捕捉食物或保護自己，而且牠更想躲起來。更多安全知識

在世界上的哪裡？

非洲亞洲歐洲北美洲南美洲澳洲與大洋洲太平洋印度洋紅海珊瑚海菲律賓海帝汶海與阿拉弗拉海孟加拉灣

牠有多大？

牠有多長？

跟 3 隻狗從鼻子接到尾巴一樣長跟 17 根香蕉頭尾相接一樣長比花園蝸牛還慢

Plate fire coral 跟「你」比起來有多大？

只是在你的瀏覽器裡做算術。什麼都不會儲存，也不會傳送到任何地方。

牠有多快？

一隻海馬 大約 0,0015 km/h (0 mph)

Plate fire coral 大約 0,01 km/h (0,01 mph)

一隻花園蝸牛 大約 0,05 km/h (0,03 mph)

值得知道

小知識

Despite its name, plate fire coral is not a true coral. It belongs to the class Hydrozoa, which is separate from the stony and soft corals.1

It has two kinds of polyps: feeding polyps for catching food and defensive polyps with longer tentacles for protection.1

Its colonies can break into fragments during rough water, and these fragments can drift and start new colonies on nearby reefs.1

It can take many forms, including branches, fans, plates, blades and encrusting layers, and its shape depends on where it grows.1

It was once thought to have disappeared from the Eastern Pacific after bleaching events, but researchers later confirmed that its range extends back there.1

It helps build reefs in the Indo-Pacific region.1

破解迷思

迷思： Plate fire coral is a true coral.

真相： It is a hydrozoan, not a true coral, and is separate from the stony and soft corals.1

給毒液專家

學名: Millepora platyphylla
類群: 水母和會螫人的海洋生物
家人: Milleporidae2
排序: Anthoathecata
各大洲: 太平洋, 印度洋, 紅海, 珊瑚海, 菲律賓海, 帝汶海與阿拉弗拉海, 孟加拉灣, 海洋
寶寶: It releases reproductive buds that send eggs and sperm into the water, where fertilisation happens outside the body. The free-swimming larvae settle and become polyps after about 1 day.1
對人的危險: 2 / 5: 疼痛3