Larger star coral

About this species

Favites pentagona is a species of stony coral in the family Merulinidae, sometimes known as larger star coral. It is native to the Indo-Pacific region and its range extends from the Red Sea through the Indian Ocean to the Western Pacific Ocean. This is a common species throughout 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 “Favites pentagona”, 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: 57 records
February: 63 records
March: 30 records
April: 59 records
May: 89 records
June: 28 records
July: 28 records
August: 48 records
September: 25 records
October: 39 records
November: 32 records
December: 43 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 2–40 m · Deepest record: 47.5 m

0–10 m: 203 records
10–20 m: 41 records
20–30 m: 8 records
30–40 m: 8 records
40–50 m: 27 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of -0–30 °C

-2–0 °C: 1 records
0–2 °C: 0 records
2–4 °C: 0 records
4–6 °C: 0 records
6–8 °C: 0 records
8–10 °C: 0 records
10–12 °C: 0 records
12–14 °C: 0 records
14–16 °C: 0 records
16–18 °C: 0 records
18–20 °C: 0 records
20–22 °C: 2 records
22–24 °C: 21 records
24–26 °C: 98 records
26–28 °C: 127 records
28–30 °C: 90 records

Photos

(c) Ewout Knoester, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Michael Bakker Paiva, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Ewout Knoester, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Mahomed Desai, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Larger star coral, larger star coral, Pentagonal honeycomb coral

Names in 2 more languages

Japanese: ゴカクキクメイシ
Simplified Chinese: 五邊角菊珊瑚

Other scientific names: Aphrastraea deformis, Aphrastrea deformis, Astraea (Fissicella) deformis, Astraea (Fissicella) pentagona, Astraea deformis, Astraea pentagona, Astrea deformis, Favia adduensis, Favia pentagona, Favites gailei, Favites parvicella, Goniastrea rudis, Madrepora pentagona, Matrepora pentagona, Plesiastrea haeckeli, Prionastraea gibbosissima, Prionastraea pentagona, Prionastrea gibbosissima, Prionastrea pentagona, Stephanocoenia maldivensis, Trachyphyllia pentagona

Similar species

Larger star coral
Favites abdita
Larger star coral
Favites flexuosa
false knob coral
Favites magnistellata
Larger star coral
Favites chinensis
Larger star coral
Favites complanata
Larger star coral
Favites halicora

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).
872 open-data records from 1790 to 2023.
Species data updated November 2, 2026.