Species
Trachyphyllia geoffroyi
A free-living brain coral that sits on sand rather than rock. Inflates hugely under moderate light and feeds readily by hand.
Care basics
On sand, not on rock. In the wild it lies free on soft substrate and it inflates to catch light; wedged onto a rock it cannot expand evenly and the tissue thins on the pinched side.
Low to medium flow and low to medium light. It is one of the few corals where the feeding response is the whole husbandry plan: a fed brain colours up and grows, an unfed one merely persists.
Scientific classification
- Phylum
- Cnidaria
- Class
- Anthozoa
- Order
- Scleractinia
- Family
- Merulinidae
- Genus
- Trachyphyllia
- Described by
- Audouin, 1826
At a glance
- Alkalinity
- 8–9 dKH
- Placement
- Sand
- Feeding
- Weekly
