Lettuce Coral

Pavona varians

Also known as Cactus Coral, Potato Chip Coral, Leaf Coral, Pavona

SaltwaterCoral

Lettuce Coral (Pavona varians) — Philippe Bourjon · CC BY-SA 4.0

Care at a glance

Temperature: 75–81°F (24–27°C)
pH: 8.1–8.4
Adult size: 9.8 in (25 cm)
Minimum tank: 20 gal (75 L)
Temperament: Mostly peaceful
Social behavior: Solitary
Swim level: Bottom
Difficulty: Beginner
Breeding: Easy
Rarity: Common
Reef safe: Reef safe
Origin: Widespread Indo-Pacific, from the Red Sea and East Africa across to the eastern Pacific, on reef flats, slopes and lagoons
Family: Agariciidae

Overview

A tough, adaptable coral and one of the easier Pavona to start with, since it encrusts over rock instead of building fragile plates. It does well under moderate light and medium to high flow, which keeps the ridged surface free of detritus. Its sweepers are short, but like the rest of the genus it will slowly overgrow neighbors it can reach, so leave bare rock around the edge. Feeding is optional and it runs mostly on light, though fine foods help it thicken and spread. Trade names for this one are especially muddled, with cactus, lettuce, leaf and potato chip all used, so lean on the scientific name to be sure of the ridged, encrusting form.

In the wild

Pavona varians is one of the most widespread corals in the genus, ranging from the Red Sea and East Africa all the way to the eastern Pacific, on reef flats, slopes and lagoons. It usually grows as an encrusting sheet raised into prominent ridges and valleys between the polyps, giving it a corrugated, brain-like surface rather than the free-standing plates of other Pavona. In the aquarium it takes moderate light and medium to high flow, and it encrusts readily across rock, so place it where it has room to sheet outward.

Good to know

Pavona varians is a zooxanthellate stony coral in the family Agariciidae, where wall-less corallites share ridged septa, exaggerated here into the coral's distinctive corrugated surface. It gets most of its energy from the symbiotic algae in its tissue rather than from feeding. It is one of the most broadly distributed and variable species in the genus, which is part of why the trade struggles to tell it apart from its plating relatives on looks alone.

Did you know

Its raised ridges and grooves make Pavona varians look more like an encrusting brain coral than a leafy Pavona, and it is closely tied to the similarly corrugated Pavona venosa.