Larger Star Coral

About

Larger Star Coral (Favites pentagona) is a robust stony coral native to the Indo-West Pacific, found across a broad geographic range from the East African coast out through the Pacific in tropical shallow-reef zones. In the wild it can grow into genuinely impressive colonies, sometimes stretching well over a metre across in submassive or encrusting forms, occasionally throwing up irregular columns as it expands. Up close, the individual corallites are angular and thin-walled with relatively few septa, but what really catches the eye are the well-developed paliform lobes. These form a neat, prominent crown around each oral disc that gives the coral a lot of visual texture. Coloration tends toward warm earth tones like brown and red, but the oral discs are often a contrasting green, which breaks things up nicely. In the aquarium Favites pentagona is considered an intermediate-level keeper. Not the most demanding large-polyp stony coral out there, but it does benefit from stable water quality and consistent moderate flow and light. It's a solid choice for a hobbyist who's moved past the basics and wants to try their hand at a more substantial reef-building species.