For the non-specialist in stromatoporoid paleobiology, perhaps the greatest interest in these enigmatic organisms is in their potential value in paleoecology; Stearn (1982a) has noted the general preference of stromatoporoids for reef environments as a unifying aspect of the group. Stromatoporoid coenostea are usually obvious in the field but care must be taken not to confuse them with non-skeletal and skeletal algae, flatpebble conglomerate clasts or finely laminated carbonate sediment.