The corals which build reefs today, the Scleractinia, arose after the Permian–Triassic extinction event that wiped out the earlier rugose corals (as well as many other groups), and became increasingly important reef builders throughout the Mesozoic Era.
The last part of the reefal evolution is the development of patch reefs constituted by colonial corals (Scleractinia).
Chromera velia was first isolated by Dr Bob Moore (then at Carter Lab, University of Sydney) from the stony coral (Scleractinia, Cnidaria) Plesiastrea versipora (Faviidae) of Sydney Harbour, New South Wales, Australia (collectors Thomas Starke-Peterkovic and Les Edwards, December 2001).