DiscoverSpeciesCorals and anemones
lesser star coral
Coelastrea aspera
- Usual depth2–47 m
- Water temperature20–30 °C
- Best monthsMarch
- How commonOccasional
Photo credit: (c) elawrey, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by elawrey · CC BY · iNaturalist
About this species
Coelastrea aspera is a species of stony coral in the family Merulinidae. It is a colonial species native to the Indo-Pacific region where it occurs in shallow water. It was first described by the American zoologist Addison Emery Verrill in 1866 as Goniastrea aspera but it has since been determined that it should be in a different genus and its scientific name has been changed to Coelastrea aspera. This is a common species throughout much of its wide range and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as being of "least concern".
Text from the Wikipedia article “Coelastrea aspera”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article
Where and when
Where it has been recorded
Worldwide
Loading the map
Best months
Worldwide (open data)
- January: 12 records
- February: 59 records
- March: 101 records
- April: 30 records
- May: 56 records
- June: 22 records
- July: 19 records
- August: 19 records
- September: 25 records
- October: 11 records
- November: 5 records
- December: 9 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 2–47 m · Deepest record: 1,013 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 20–30 °C
Photos
(c) elawrey, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by elawrey · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) elawrey, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by elawrey · CC BY · iNaturalist 
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist 
(c) Chris Oldnall, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist 
(c) elawrey, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Nicola Crockford, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) elawrey, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
Names and classification
- English
- lesser star coral
Names in 3 more languages
- Japanese
- パリカメノコキクメイシ
- Thai
- ปะการังสมองช่องเหลี่ยม
- Simplified Chinese
- 粗糙角星珊瑚
Other scientific names: Favites aspera, Favites spectabilis, Goniastrea aspera, Goniastrea spectabilis, Prionastraea spectabilis, Prionastrea spectabilis
Similar species
lesser star coralCoelastrea palauensis
false knob coralAstrea curta
Lesser knob coralCyphastrea chalcidicum
Lesser knob coralCyphastrea microphthalma
Lesser knob coralCyphastrea ocellina
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).
- 603 open-data records from 1865 to 2011.
- Species data updated November 1, 2026.
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