Larger Star Coral

About

Larger Star Coral (Favites paraflexuosus) is a stony coral native to the Indo-West Pacific, found across a broad geographic range stretching from the east African coast to the western Pacific. In the wild it occupies reef environments from the shallows down to around 40 meters, which hints at a degree of adaptability that carries over reasonably well into captive systems. Like other members of the Favites genus, it forms compact, rounded to encrusting colonies built up from tightly packed corallites. The individual skeletal cups that give brain and star corals their characteristic textured surface. The fleshy polyp tissue filling those corallites often shows contrasting colors between the walls and centers, and the palette can range from greens and browns to more vivid yellows depending on the individual specimen and the lighting it receives. In the aquarium, Favites paraflexuosus is generally considered an intermediate-level coral rather than a beginner's first choice. It appreciates moderate water flow and moderate lighting, and like most large-polyp stony corals it can extend sweeper tentacles after dark, so placement with adequate spacing from neighbors is worth thinking about. Overall it is a solid, relatively undemanding LPS option for a keeper who already has some reef experience under their belt.