Ruffled Disc Coral

Care at a glance

Overview

Keep it in a 150 liter or larger reef with bright light and moderate to strong flow, since the tightly folded plates need current to stay free of detritus. Hold temperature 24 to 27 C, pH 8.1 to 8.4, and stable alkalinity and calcium. The heavily convoluted plating forms are a little more demanding than the open cup types, so aim for steady water and good flow. It feeds mainly by photosynthesis but accepts fine plankton.

In the wild

A plating stony coral that grows into tightly folded, ruffled sheets that fold back on themselves like frilled discs. It is usually green, yellow-green, or brown with very small, low polyps under 1 mm tall. The heavily convoluted plates trap water and give it a busy, wavy surface. It comes from silty inshore water and is built to shed sediment.

Good to know

Turbinaria mesenterina is a small polyp coral in the family Dendrophylliidae with some of the most convoluted plate growth in its genus. Its tiny polyps and folded skeleton help it survive in murky, sediment-heavy lagoons. It relies on zooxanthellae for most of its energy.

Did you know

Its deeply folded plates trap so much detritus that good flow is less about feeding and more about keeping the ruffles from smothering themselves.

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