Feather Coral

About

Feather coral (Polyphyllia talpina) is one of the more distinctive large-polyp corals you'll encounter in the reef hobby, and it has a look that's genuinely unlike most other stony corals on the market. Rather than attaching to rock like the majority of reef-building corals, it lives free on the substrate. Just resting on the sand or rubble, which is part of what makes it so interesting to keep. The colony is elongate and somewhat tongue-like, occasionally branching into Y, T, or X shapes as it grows. Running along the upper surface is a central groove, and the whole top is covered in long, numerous tentacles that extend during the day rather than at night. A useful trait for hobbyists who actually want to watch their coral do something during waking hours. Coloration tends toward grey, cream, or soft green, with pale white tentacle tips giving it a feathery appearance that explains the common name. In the wild it turns up across the Indo-Pacific on reef slopes, often in areas where related free-living corals are common, at depths from the shallows down to around 130 feet. In the aquarium it appreciates gentle flow and moderate light, and its relatively forgiving nature makes it a reasonable choice for newer reef keepers comfortable with large-polyp stony corals.