Elegance coral

Catalaphyllia jardinei

Corals and anemones
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth5–48 m
Water temperature23–29 °C
Best monthsJanuary, May, and November
How commonRare

Photo credit: (c) Dan Schofield, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

Catalaphyllia is a monotypic genus of stony coral in the family Euphylliidae from the western Pacific Ocean. It is represented by a single species, Catalaphyllia jardinei, commonly known as elegance coral. It was first described by William Saville-Kent in 1893 as Pectinia jardinei.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Catalaphyllia”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 15 records
February: 6 records
March: 2 records
April: 9 records
May: 11 records
June: 3 records
July: 8 records
August: 7 records
September: 7 records
October: 10 records
November: 11 records
December: 8 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 5–48 m · Deepest record: 201.5 m

0–10 m: 19 records
10–20 m: 7 records
20–30 m: 3 records
30–40 m: 2 records
40–50 m: 1 records
50–60 m: 0 records
60–70 m: 0 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110+ m: 3 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 23–29 °C

22–24 °C: 1 records
24–26 °C: 32 records
26–28 °C: 15 records
28–30 °C: 34 records

Photos

(c) portioid, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Pauline Walsh Jacobson, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) portioid, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Pierre Pericard, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Dan Schofield, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Pauline Walsh Jacobson, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Elegance coral, Wonder coral, elegance coral, wonder coral

Names in 3 more languages

French: Catalaphyllia
Japanese: オオナガレハナサンゴ
Thai: ปะการังมุกดา

Other scientific names: Catalaphyllia plicata, Catalaphyllia sabiuraensis, Euphyllia multifore, Euphyllia picteti, Euphyllia sabiuraensis, Flabellum multifore, Flabellum vacuum, Pectinia jardinei

Similar species

Lesser knob coral
Cyphastrea serailia
knob coral
Dipsastraea speciosa
Hedgehog coral
Echinopora lamellosa
false knob coral
Astrea curta
Head Coral
Dipsastraea favus
knob coral
Dipsastraea pallida

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
135 open-data records from 1893 to 2005.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

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