Wrinkle Coral

About

Wrinkle Coral (Coscinaraea marshae) is a distinctly Australian species found along rocky foreshores, with a natural range that hugs the continent's coastline from roughly the mid-west to the southeast. In the wild it grows from the surface down to about 30 meters, and its subtropical origins make it somewhat unusual among reef-aquarium corals. The colony form is a flat plate, and what sets it apart visually is the arrangement of corallites nestled between raised ridges, or collines, that run parallel to the colony edge, much like the folded structure you'd see in Leptoseris. The septo-costae have a noticeably textured, rough quality that gives the surface real visual depth even in more subdued colorations. Color-wise, expect brown, yellow-brown, or green tones, occasionally with a mottled patterning across the plate. It's not a gaudy coral, but the sculptural quality of the ridging makes it genuinely interesting to look at up close. In the aquarium, this one sits in the intermediate care bracket. It wants high light and moderate flow, which isn't unusual for a plating coral that needs to efficiently capture both light and nutrients. Given its subtropical origins, it may appreciate slightly cooler conditions than many Indo-Pacific species, and that's worth keeping in mind when planning placement.