Octopus Coral

About

Octopus Coral (Galaxea astreata) is a close relative of the more commonly kept Galaxea fascicularis, and shares many of its family's notable traits. Found across a broad sweep of the Indo-West Pacific, from Japan down to Australia and from Egypt east to Samoa, it grows in reef zones sheltered from heavy wave action and can be found anywhere from the shallows down to around 57 meters. In the wild, colonies can grow impressively large, often exceeding two meters across, forming submassive, columnar, or encrusting shapes. The individual corallites are fairly small, typically in the 3 to 4.5 millimeter range, and usually carry eight to twelve septa radiating toward the center. Coloration tends toward grey, though pink, green, and brown specimens turn up regularly. Like others in the Galaxea genus, this coral extends its tentacles most fully at night rather than during the day, which can catch newer keepers off guard. Those tentacles carry sweeper capacity, so placement in the aquarium matters. Give it room away from neighbors. Intermediate care experience is a reasonable baseline for keeping this species successfully, and a moderate, stable flow environment suits it well.