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Home > Corals
> Cup Corals > Tubastraea coccinea
Updated 2/28/2024
Family
Dendrophylliidae
INDO-PACIFIC / HAWAII
TROPICAL WESTERN
ATLANTIC
Tubastraea
coccinea
Puako, Hawaii, 20 feet
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Sharks Cove, Oahu, 30 feet |
Kaneohe Bay, Oahu, 10 feet
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Puako, Hawaii, 20 feet |
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Skeleton, Puako, Hawaii, 20 feet
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Juveniles, Puako, Hawaii, 20 feet
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Sharks Cove, O'ahu, 35 feet
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YO-257 wreck, O'ahu, 80 feet |
Mahi Wreck, O'ahu, 80 feet
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Vandenburg wreck, Key West, 70 feet
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YO-257 wreck, O'ahu, 80 feet
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Sea Cave, O'ahu, 30 feet
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Puako, Hawai'i, 20 feet
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Sea
Tiger, O'ahu, 85 feet
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ORANGE CUP CORAL
Night diving among ledges and cavern
ceilings covered by Tubastraea coral is truly a macro photographer's
dream-come-true. These beautiful corals extend their 3/4 inch long tentacles to feed
upon zooplankton at night. During the day the tentacles are retracted into deep
circular calices. The outside of these calices are quite smooth and well-developed
colonies are composed of many mouths. Larger and more brightly colored than
Oval Cup Coral. Avoid spending much time under
cavern ceilings where these corals live, since trapped air bubbles will cause
animals on the ceiling to die. It is preyed upon by the frilly orange
slug Phestilla
melanobrachia. Native to the Indo-Pacific, it became
established in the Tropical Atlantic where it is an invasive pest.
All
coral skeletons illustrated are from scientific collections taken prior
to 1998.
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