Somebody hands you a frag and calls it a chalice. It might be. It might be a favia, or an acan, or something nobody has named properly. This guide is how to tell, and what each one needs once you have it home.

Coral identification in this hobby is a mess, and there are reasons for it. Trade names get invented at frag swaps. Two corals that look nothing alike wear the same label because somebody’s mother colony sold under it years ago. And the features that actually separate one genus from another are usually small, structural, and invisible in the photo you were shown.

What follows is the reference we use in the shop. Every coral below is one we grow, hold, or ship from Key West, and every entry answers the same three questions: how do I recognize it, what does it need, and what goes wrong with it first.

About the numbers

The PAR figures here are starting points, not targets to chase. PAR measured at the coral is what matters, and it shifts with depth, fixture height, and how dirty the glass is. A coral sitting at the low end of its range that is growing and holding color does not need more light. The lighting guide covers how to measure it.

Euphyllia
Other LPS
SPS
Soft corals
Zoanthids and palys
Mushrooms
Florida Keys species
The care chart
Commonly confused
What is wrong with mine

Euphyllia: torch, hammer, frogspawn

Three corals, one genus, and the most commonly mixed-up group in the hobby. They separate on the shape of the tentacle tip and almost nothing else reliable. Color will not help you. Size will not help you. Look at the tips.

Torch coral

Euphyllia glabrescens

Long tubular tentacles ending in a rounded, slightly bulbous tip. They hang and flow rather than clustering, and each head sits on its own corallite tube, so the skeleton branches and heads can be cut apart. Under blue light the tips fluoresce hard, which is most of why people buy them.

Torches sting. Sweepers come out after dark and reach further than the coral looks capable of, so give a head at least four inches of clear space in every direction before gluing anything near it.

Close-up illustration of torch coral tentacle tips, each ending in one rounded bulbous swelling — Illustration. One rounded, bulbous swelling at the end of each unbranched tentacle. Compare it with the split tips of frogspawn below.

PAR 75–150 · Flow moderate, indirect · Placement lower to middle · Feeding beneficial, not required · Aggression high, long sweepers

Shop torch corals · Torch care guide · Why is mine not extending?

Hammer coral

Euphyllia ancora (wall) · Euphyllia paraancora (branching)

Tentacle tips flatten into a T or anvil shape. That hammer head is the identification. Two skeletal forms sell under the same name: wall hammers grow as a continuous meandering ridge and cannot be divided without cutting through living tissue, branching hammers put each head on its own stalk and can. Ask which one you are buying, because it decides whether the piece is ever divisible.

Hammers shed tissue from the base upward when they run short on energy. The symbionts sit in the tentacles and oral region, not the body wall, so the base is the part that costs the most and returns the least. Bare skeleton climbing from the bottom while the tentacles above still look inflated is an early warning, not a late one.

Close-up illustration of hammer coral tentacle tips flattened into a T-shaped anvil — Illustration. Each tentacle ends in a flattened crossbar. That T or anvil shape is the whole identification.

PAR 75–150 · Flow moderate, indirect · Placement lower to middle · Feeding beneficial · Aggression high, long sweepers

Shop hammer corals · Hammer coral losing heads

Frogspawn

Euphyllia divisa

Tentacles branch and split near the tip, so each ends in several small knobs rather than one. The whole mass reads bushier and less orderly than a torch. Same care, same sting, same placement rules as the other two.

Close-up illustration of frogspawn tentacles each splitting into several small knobs — Illustration. A torch tentacle ends in one knob. A frogspawn tentacle ends in a handful.

PAR 75–150 · Flow moderate, indirect · Placement lower to middle · Feeding beneficial · Aggression high, long sweepers

Shop frogspawn

Other large polyp stony corals

Acan

Micromussa lordhowensis (formerly Acanthastrea lordhowensis)

Thick fleshy polyps packed side by side, each with a visible central mouth and concentric rings of color running out from it. The flesh is meaty enough that the skeleton disappears entirely when the coral is inflated. Acans take food readily and grow faster when fed, which is unusual enough among LPS to be worth exploiting.

Close-up illustration of acan polyps showing concentric color rings around each central mouth — Illustration. One mouth per polyp with rings of color running out from it, and no skeleton showing between neighbors.

PAR 50–100 · Flow low to moderate · Placement lower third or sand · Feeding recommended · Aggression low to moderate

Shop acans · How to spot feed

Acanthastrea

Acanthastrea echinata and relatives

Larger, more separated corallites than an acan, with deeper valleys between them and a rougher skeletal texture under the flesh. Sold as the same thing often enough that the two names have blurred in the trade, but echinata polyps sit further apart and the coral tolerates a little more light.

Close-up illustration of the rough ridged skeleton in the valley between two acanthastrea corallites — Illustration. The rough, ridged skeleton visible down in the valley is what separates acanthastrea from the tighter packing of an acan.

PAR 75–150 · Flow low to moderate · Placement lower to middle · Feeding recommended · Aggression moderate

Shop acanthastrea

Scolymia

Homophyllia australis and relatives

A single large disc-shaped polyp, one mouth, one animal. That is the identification. Scolys sit flat on sand or a low rock and inflate into a rounded cushion. They do not multiply into colonies, so what you buy is what you keep, which is why collector pieces carry the prices they do.

Low light and low flow. A scoly blasted with either will stay deflated and eventually recede at the edge of the skeleton.

Overhead close-up illustration of a scolymia showing septa radiating from one central mouth — Illustration. Septa radiate from a single central mouth. Two or more mouths on one disc means you are looking at something else.

PAR 50–100 · Flow low · Placement sand bed or low rock · Feeding recommended · Aggression low

Shop scolymia

Cynarina

Cynarina lacrymalis

Also one large polyp, but where a scoly is fleshy and opaque, a cynarina inflates into translucent bubbled lobes you can partly see through, with the skeletal septa visible underneath as radiating ridges. Deflated during the day, much larger at night.

Close-up illustration of cynarina tissue with skeletal septa visible through the translucent lobes — Illustration. The skeletal septa showing through from underneath are the tell. On a scoly the flesh is too opaque to see them this clearly.

PAR 50–100 · Flow low · Placement sand bed · Feeding recommended · Aggression low

Shop cynarina

Favia and Favites

Favia spp. · Favites spp.

Illustration of an encrusting favia dome where each corallite keeps its own separate wall — Illustration. Each favia corallite keeps its own wall, so a narrow groove runs between every pair of neighbors.

Both are encrusting brain corals with rounded corallites packed across a dome. The difference is structural: favia corallites each have their own separate wall, so there is a visible groove between neighbors. Favites corallites share walls, so the pattern reads as a continuous honeycomb with no gap. Look at where two polyps meet.

Both send out sweeper tentacles at night that will burn a neighbor several inches away. Judge spacing by what happens after lights out, not by what the coral looks like at noon.

Close-up illustration of favites corallites sharing walls in a continuous honeycomb — Illustration. Favites corallites share walls, so the surface reads as one continuous honeycomb. Look at where two polyps meet.

PAR 75–150 · Flow moderate · Placement lower to middle · Feeding beneficial · Aggression high at night

Shop favia · Shop favites

Chalice

Echinophyllia · Oxypora · Mycedium

A plating or encrusting sheet with scattered raised mouths across the surface, usually ringed in a contrasting color. Chalice covers several genera that the trade treats as one, and the eye-catching ones command real money for patterns that only appear under blue light.

They carry some of the longest sweepers in the hobby, reaching six inches or more. A chalice placed politely between two other corals will eventually clear the space around it.

Close-up illustration of raised chalice mouths ringed in contrasting fluorescent color — Illustration. The raised, brightly ringed mouths are what collectors pay for, and most of that color only appears under blue light.

PAR 50–100 · Flow low to moderate · Placement lower to middle, shaded · Feeding beneficial · Aggression very high, long sweepers

Shop chalice

Blastomussa

Blastomussa merletti · Blastomussa wellsi

Round fleshy polyps on individual short tubes, spaced apart rather than packed, so you see rock or skeleton between them. Wellsi polyps are larger and more separated, merletti smaller and denser. Blastos handle lower light than most LPS and tend to sulk under more.

Close-up illustration of blastomussa polyps on individual tubes with open gaps between them — Illustration. Wellsi polyps are larger and further apart, merletti smaller and denser. Either way the gaps between the tubes are the tell.

PAR 50–100 · Flow low · Placement lower third · Feeding beneficial · Aggression low

Shop blastomussa

Bubble coral

Plerogyra sinuosa

Grape-sized vesicles inflate during the day and deflate at night to expose feeding tentacles underneath. Those vesicles are delicate and tear on rock or a careless net. The sweepers that come out after dark are long and they sting hard.

Close-up illustration of thin-walled translucent bubble coral vesicles — Illustration. Each vesicle is a thin, water-filled sac. That is why a net or a rock edge opens them.

PAR 50–100 · Flow low · Placement sand or low rock · Feeding recommended · Aggression high, long sweepers

Shop bubble corals

Lobophyllia

Lobophyllia spp.

Large fleshy lobes, each a separate polyp with its own mouth, joined at the base into a dome. Bigger and more sculptural than an acan, with deep folds between lobes. Colors run to reds, greens, and combinations of both across a single colony.

Close-up illustration of the deep fold between two Lobophyllia lobes, each with its own mouth — Illustration. Each lobe carries its own mouth and the folds between them run deep. That scale is what separates a lobo from an acan.

PAR 75–150 · Flow low to moderate · Placement lower to middle · Feeding recommended · Aggression moderate

Shop lobophyllia

Plate coral

Fungia and relatives

A free-living single polyp that sits loose on the sand rather than attaching to rock. Underneath is a disc of radiating septa like the gills of a mushroom. Plates can move themselves slowly across a sand bed and can right themselves if flipped, though not always fast enough to avoid smothering.

Keep them on sand, not rock. A plate wedged on rockwork tears its tissue on the edges.

Illustration of the underside of a plate coral showing radiating septa like mushroom gills — Illustration. Turn one over and the underside is a disc of radiating septa, like the gills of a mushroom. Nothing else in the tank looks like this.

PAR 75–150 · Flow low to moderate · Placement sand bed only · Feeding recommended · Aggression low

Shop plate corals

Duncan

Duncanopsammia axifuga

Tubular heads topped with a ring of short tentacles around a visible green or cream center, growing on branching stalks. Duncans multiply readily, take food eagerly, and are one of the few LPS that will visibly add heads within months if you feed them.

Close-up illustration of a single duncan head with a ring of short tentacles around a visible center — Illustration. A ring of short, blunt tentacles around a visible oral disc, on a tube. That combination is the identification.

PAR 50–120 · Flow low to moderate · Placement lower to middle · Feeding recommended · Aggression low

Shop duncans

Small polyp stony corals

SPS is where stability stops being advice and starts being the whole job. These corals hold color and grow when alkalinity, calcium, and temperature sit still, and they brown out or lose tissue when those numbers move. The swing matters more than the value.

Acropora

Acropora spp.

Branching, with one identifying feature no other genus has: an axial corallite at the tip of each branch, larger than the radial corallites along the sides. That single tip corallite is what makes an acro an acro. The pale growing tip you see on a healthy piece is that structure laying down new skeleton.

The most demanding coral most people will keep, and the one that punishes swings hardest. Rapid tissue necrosis can strip a colony in a day.

Close-up illustration of an acropora branch tip showing the single enlarged axial corallite — Illustration. The single larger corallite at the branch tip is the axial corallite. No other genus has one.

PAR 250–400 · Flow strong and random · Placement upper third · Feeding optional · Aggression low, but sensitive to neighbors

Shop acropora · Bleaching vs STN vs RTN

Montipora

Montipora spp.

No axial corallite, and the polyps are tiny and densely packed, giving the surface a fine fuzzy texture rather than the knobbly one an acro has. Grows in three forms sold under separate names: plating (capricornis), encrusting, and branching (digitata). All three are the same genus with the same needs.

The forgiving end of SPS. A montipora will tolerate parameter movement that would kill an acropora, which makes it the right first step.

Close-up illustration of a montipora surface covered in tiny densely packed polyps — Illustration. Tiny polyps packed dense across the surface and no axial corallite anywhere. That fine fuzz is how a monti reads next to an acro.

PAR 150–300 · Flow moderate to strong · Placement middle to upper · Feeding optional · Aggression low

Shop montipora

Birdsnest

Seriatopora hystrix

Thin, brittle, needle-tipped branches forming a dense tangle. Snaps easily, which is a feature when you want frags and a nuisance when you are moving rock. Grows fast in stable water.

Close-up illustration of birdsnest branches tapering to fine sharp needle points — Illustration. The needle tips are the tell, and they are also why the coral snaps in your hand when you move rock.

PAR 150–250 · Flow moderate to strong · Placement middle to upper · Feeding optional · Aggression low

Shop birdsnest

Pocillopora

Pocillopora damicornis

Stubbier branches than a birdsnest, covered in wart-like bumps called verrucae that give it a knobbly outline. Hardy, fast, and known for spawning planulae in the tank that settle and start new colonies on their own.

Close-up illustration of the wart-like verrucae covering a pocillopora branch — Illustration. Those verrucae are the separator. A birdsnest branch is smooth and tapers; a pocillopora branch is lumpy and blunt.

PAR 150–300 · Flow strong · Placement middle to upper · Feeding optional · Aggression low

Shop pocillopora

Anacropora

Anacropora spp.

Looks like a slender acropora but has no axial corallite, which places it closer to montipora. Thin fragile branches, fast growth, and usually cheaper than the acro it resembles.

Close-up illustration of an anacropora branch tip with no enlarged axial corallite — Illustration. No axial corallite at the tip. That absence places anacropora closer to montipora than to the acro it resembles.

PAR 150–250 · Flow moderate to strong · Placement middle to upper · Feeding optional · Aggression low

Shop anacropora

Encrusting corals

A growth habit rather than a genus. Encrusting pieces spread as a sheet directly over rock instead of branching or plating, and several genera do it. They are the cheapest way to cover bare aquascape, and once established they hold territory against neighbors.

Close-up illustration of an encrusting coral growth margin advancing over bare rock — Illustration. The pale advancing margin is where the coral is taking new ground. Once established, encrusting pieces hold territory.

PAR varies by genus · Flow moderate · Placement on rock, any height · Feeding optional · Aggression low to moderate

Shop encrusting corals

Soft corals

Leather corals

Sarcophyton · Sinularia

Illustration of a Sarcophyton leather coral with a thick trunk and polyps extended across the cap — Illustration. A thick rubbery trunk supporting a wide capitulum, with polyps standing out across the top. No stony skeleton anywhere in it.

No stony skeleton. A thick rubbery trunk supporting a capitulum with polyps across the surface, which retract into the flesh and leave the coral looking deflated for days at a time. That shrinking is normal and usually precedes shedding a waxy surface layer, not dying.

Leathers release terpenes that suppress nearby stony corals. In a small tank that chemistry is a real constraint, and carbon helps.

Illustration of a leather coral with polyps retracted and a waxy surface layer peeling away — Illustration. A leather that shrinks and goes waxy for days is usually shedding, not dying. This is the state people panic about.

PAR 75–150 · Flow moderate to strong · Placement middle to upper · Feeding optional · Aggression chemical, not physical

Shop leather corals

Clove polyps

Clavularia spp.

Eight feathery tentacles per polyp, each rising from its own tube off a shared mat. The eight-tentacle count separates clove polyps from zoanthids, which have many more and a flat disc.

Some varieties spread across rockwork and do not stop. Put them on an island rock separated by sand unless you are prepared to remove them later.

Overhead close-up illustration of a single clove polyp with exactly eight feathery tentacles — Illustration. Eight feathery tentacles, every time. A zoanthid has many more and a flat disc, and that count is the fastest way to tell them apart.

PAR 75–150 · Flow moderate · Placement anywhere, isolated · Feeding optional · Aggression spreads aggressively

Shop clove polyps

Zoanthids and palythoas

Zoanthids

Zoanthus spp.

Illustration of a zoanthid colony with polyps fully open showing flat discs and tentacle fringes — Illustration. Flat round discs with a fringe of short tentacles, joined by a mat.

Flat round oral discs on short stalks, joined by a mat, with a fringe of short tentacles around the rim. Colors come in named morphs that sell for wildly different money based on pattern alone. Hardy, fast, and the right first coral for most people.

Closed zoas tell you something only if you read the pattern. All shut at once points at a whole-tank event. A few open beside closed neighbors points at predation.

Overhead close-up illustration of zoanthid polyps showing flat oral discs ringed with short tentacles — Illustration. A flat round disc with a short tentacle fringe around the rim, on a stalk joined to a mat. Many tentacles, not eight.

PAR 75–150 · Flow moderate · Placement anywhere · Feeding optional · Aggression low

Shop zoanthids · Why are mine not opening?

Palythoa

Palythoa spp.

Larger polyps than zoanthids, with a thicker fleshier stalk and often a sandy texture from grit embedded in the tissue. The distinction matters for one reason.

Palytoxin

Palythoa can carry palytoxin, which is genuinely dangerous. Do not boil rock with polyps on it, do not scrape colonies in a closed room, and wear gloves and eye protection when handling or fragging. The zoanthid guide covers this properly, and it is worth reading before you cut anything.

Close-up illustration of a palythoa stalk showing its sandy gritty surface texture — Illustration. Grit embedded in the stalk tissue gives palythoa its sandy texture. Wear gloves and eye protection before you cut one.

PAR 75–150 · Flow moderate · Placement anywhere · Feeding optional · Aggression low, but handle with care

Shop palythoas

Mushroom corals

Discosoma, Rhodactis and Ricordea

Illustration of a smooth flat Discosoma mushroom coral on rock — Illustration. Discosoma are smooth and flat with no bumps at all. That flatness is the whole difference from the other two.

Three mushrooms sold as one category, separated by surface texture. Discosoma are smooth and flat with no visible bumps. Rhodactis carry branched, sometimes hairy outgrowths across the disc. Ricordea are covered in dense round bobbles, evenly spaced, like beading.

All three want the lowest light and the least flow in the tank. A mushroom that detaches and travels is telling you the spot is too bright or too strong.

Overhead close-up illustration of a Ricordea florida disc covered in dense round bobbles — Illustration. Ricordea are covered in dense round bobbles like beading. Rhodactis outgrowths are branched and uneven; discosoma has none.

PAR 30–75 · Flow low · Placement lower third, shaded · Feeding optional · Aggression low

Shop mushrooms · Telling the three apart

Florida Keys species

We are licensed to collect and sell Florida marine life, which puts animals on our list that most coral retailers cannot offer at all. What follows comes out of the water we work in rather than off a pallet at an airport.

One thing worth stating plainly, because it gets muddled constantly: Florida protects its stony corals, and they cannot be taken from the wild. Every stony coral we sell is aquacultured at the shop in Key West under Florida Aquaculture Certificate #AQ0254072. What comes out of local water is the rest of the reef — ricordea, octocorals, macroalgae, inverts and fish — collected under license and inside state limits. Anyone selling you a wild-caught Florida acropora is selling you a story.

Ricordea florida

The Atlantic ricordea, and a different animal from the Pacific Ricordea yuma most stores stock. The disc is covered in dense round bobbles, evenly spaced, with the mouth raised on a short cone in the middle rather than sitting flat. Color runs to orange, gold and green, with blues and purples turning up rarely enough that they carry their own prices.

They divide by splitting rather than by dropping babies off the foot, so a settled piece slowly becomes two of itself. Give them the same treatment as any other mushroom: the shaded end of the tank and the softest flow you have. A ricordea that keeps detaching and traveling is telling you the spot is too bright.

PAR 30–75 · Flow low · Placement lower third, shaded · Feeding optional · Aggression low

Shop Florida Keys corals · Telling the mushrooms apart

Gorgonians

Sea fans, sea plumes and sea whips · various octocoral genera

Illustration comparing a drab photosynthetic gorgonian with a vivid non-photosynthetic one — Illustration. Photosynthetic on the left, non-photosynthetic on the right. If the color is vivid and there is no brown or olive anywhere in it, assume it has to be fed.

This group splits into two halves that need opposite things, and buying the wrong half by accident is the most common way a gorgonian dies in a home tank.

Photosynthetic species — the purple, tan and olive plumes and whips — carry zooxanthellae and live on light plus water movement, the same as any other coral in this guide. They are forgiving and they grow.

Non-photosynthetic species — the bright oranges, reds and yellows that catch your eye first — have no symbiotic algae at all. They eat, and only that. Without frequent feeding of small suspended food they starve slowly over weeks while still looking fine, then strip from the base up. If the color is vivid and there is no brown or olive in it anywhere, assume it needs feeding until you have confirmed otherwise.

Either way, mount them upright and off the sand. A gorgonian lying against rock or substrate abrades in that spot and loses tissue there first.

PAR 100–200 (photosynthetic) · Flow strong and random · Placement upright, off the sand · Feeding required for non-photosynthetic · Aggression low

Shop Florida Keys corals

What a local animal actually gets you

An Indo-Pacific coral leaves the reef, sits in a holding facility, flies for a day or more, clears customs, and passes through at least one wholesaler before anyone ships it to your door. Every one of those transfers is a chance to be bagged too long, run too hot or too cold, or held without food.

An animal collected here goes from local water into our system and stays in it until the day it ships to you. That is one transfer instead of five, and it is the reason we can tell you how a specific piece has been behaving rather than reading you a description off a wholesaler’s list.

Shop Florida Keys corals · Local inverts · Macroalgae · Reef restoration in the Keys

The care chart

Every coral above in one place. Sort your own priorities: if you have a low-light tank, read down the PAR column first.

Coral	Type	PAR	Flow	Placement	Feeding	Aggression
Torch	LPS	75–150	Moderate	Low–mid	Beneficial	High
Hammer	LPS	75–150	Moderate	Low–mid	Beneficial	High
Frogspawn	LPS	75–150	Moderate	Low–mid	Beneficial	High
Acan	LPS	50–100	Low–mod	Low / sand	Recommended	Low–mod
Acanthastrea	LPS	75–150	Low–mod	Low–mid	Recommended	Moderate
Scolymia	LPS	50–100	Low	Sand	Recommended	Low
Cynarina	LPS	50–100	Low	Sand	Recommended	Low
Favia	LPS	75–150	Moderate	Low–mid	Beneficial	High at night
Favites	LPS	75–150	Moderate	Low–mid	Beneficial	High at night
Chalice	LPS	50–100	Low–mod	Low–mid	Beneficial	Very high
Blastomussa	LPS	50–100	Low	Low	Beneficial	Low
Bubble	LPS	50–100	Low	Sand / low	Recommended	High
Lobophyllia	LPS	75–150	Low–mod	Low–mid	Recommended	Moderate
Plate (Fungia)	LPS	75–150	Low–mod	Sand only	Recommended	Low
Duncan	LPS	50–120	Low–mod	Low–mid	Recommended	Low
Acropora	SPS	250–400	Strong	Upper	Optional	Low
Montipora	SPS	150–300	Mod–strong	Mid–upper	Optional	Low
Birdsnest	SPS	150–250	Mod–strong	Mid–upper	Optional	Low
Pocillopora	SPS	150–300	Strong	Mid–upper	Optional	Low
Anacropora	SPS	150–250	Mod–strong	Mid–upper	Optional	Low
Leather	Soft	75–150	Mod–strong	Mid–upper	Optional	Chemical
Clove polyps	Soft	75–150	Moderate	Isolated	Optional	Spreads
Zoanthid	Soft	75–150	Moderate	Anywhere	Optional	Low
Palythoa	Soft	75–150	Moderate	Anywhere	Optional	Handle with care
Mushrooms	Soft	30–75	Low	Low, shaded	Optional	Low
Ricordea florida	Soft	30–75	Low	Low, shaded	Optional	Low
Gorgonian (photo)	Soft	100–200	Strong	Upright, off sand	Optional	Low
Gorgonian (non-photo)	Soft	Not required	Strong	Upright, off sand	Required	Low

Corals people confuse

Pair	What separates them
Torch vs hammer vs frogspawn	Tentacle tip: rounded and bulbous, flat anvil, or split into knobs.
Favia vs favites	Favia corallites have separate walls with a groove between. Favites share walls, so the pattern is a continuous honeycomb.
Acropora vs montipora	Acropora has an axial corallite at each branch tip. Montipora has none, and a fine fuzzy surface.
Acropora vs anacropora	Same look, but anacropora has no axial corallite.
Acan vs acanthastrea	Acan polyps pack tight with no gaps. Acanthastrea corallites sit further apart with deeper valleys.
Scolymia vs cynarina	Scoly flesh is opaque and cushioned. Cynarina inflates into translucent lobes with visible septa underneath.
Discosoma vs rhodactis vs ricordea	Smooth disc, branched outgrowths, or dense round bobbles.
Zoanthid vs palythoa	Palythoa polyps are larger, fleshier, often gritty in texture. Palytoxin risk is higher.
Zoanthid vs clove polyp	Count tentacles. Clove polyps have eight feathery ones. Zoanthids have many more around a flat disc.
Birdsnest vs pocillopora	Birdsnest branches are thin with needle tips. Pocillopora is stubbier and covered in wart-like verrucae.

What is wrong with mine

Start with the symptom, not the species.

Symptom	Where to look
Just arrived and will not open	New coral not opening after shipping
Turning white, or losing tissue	Bleaching vs STN vs RTN
Torch will not extend	Torch diagnostic guide
Hammer losing heads from the base	Hammer coral losing heads
Zoanthids closed	Zoanthid closure patterns
Something is eating it	Coral pests 101
Parameters look wrong	Water parameters · pH in the reef tank
Not sure the light is right	Lighting: PAR, spectrum, photoperiod
New and want the easy ones	Best beginner corals

Written by The Underwater Gardener, Key West, Florida. Florida Aquaculture Certificate #AQ0254072, licensed Florida marine life dealer. The husbandry here comes from growing and shipping these animals, not from a textbook. Corals ship UPS Overnight with a live arrival guarantee.

The Florida Keys Aquarium Store

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Coral Identification Guide: 27 Aquarium Corals With ID Notes, PAR, Flow and Placement