Starry Cup Coral

About

Starry Cup Coral (Acanthastrea echinata) is a widely distributed stony coral found from the Red Sea and East Africa all the way out to Polynesia, ranging north to Japan and south to Australia's Solitary Islands. In the wild it turns up in just about every reef environment imaginable, from shallow sunlit flats down to around 40 meters, which gives you a good sense of how adaptable it is. Colonies grow in encrusting to massive forms, rarely exceeding a meter across, and one of their most recognizable features is the thick, fleshy tissue draped over the skeleton, often arranged in concentric folds around each corallite. Up close, the septa have long pointed teeth, giving the surface a slightly spiky texture beneath all that soft tissue. Coloration is variable. Many colonies run in muted browns, greys, and greens, but the species does occasionally show brighter tones. In the aquarium this is a genuinely approachable coral for newer reef keepers. It does well under moderate lighting and prefers gentler water movement rather than turbulent flow. Given its wide natural distribution and tolerance for varied conditions, it tends to settle into a well-maintained reef tank without much fuss, making it a solid choice if you are just getting into keeping large polyp stony corals.