 Houttuyn gave the species name as "Madrepora natans", which was later included in the genus "Colpophyllia", by Henri Milne-Edwards and Jules Haime, 1848.His cousin Frans Houttuyn, a printer and bookseller, printed the series and is sometimes mistakenly credited for the work and also erroneously named as Houttuyn's father.A synonym of "C. natans" is "Meandrina gyrosa", attributed to Lamarck, 1816.