knob coral

Goniastrea stelligera

Corals and anemones
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth0–49 m
Water temperature-0–30 °C
Best monthsApril
How commonOccasional

Photo credit: no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist

About this species

Goniastrea stelligera, commonly known as knob coral, is a species of stony coral in the family Merulinidae. It occurs in shallow water on the coast of East Africa and in the Indo-Pacific region. This is a common species of coral but it seems to be decreasing in abundance. The main threat it faces is from the destruction of its coral reef habitat, and it is also moderately susceptible to coral bleaching, so the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as being "near threatened".

Text from the Wikipedia article “Goniastrea stelligera”, 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: 26 records
February: 277 records
March: 923 records
April: 2,354 records
May: 284 records
June: 59 records
July: 38 records
August: 73 records
September: 38 records
October: 31 records
November: 52 records
December: 26 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 0–49 m · Deepest record: 253 m

0–10 m: 578 records
10–20 m: 93 records
20–30 m: 54 records
30–40 m: 431 records
40–50 m: 2,366 records
50–60 m: 168 records
60–70 m: 12 records
70–80 m: 6 records
80–90 m: 2 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110+ m: 2 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: 0 records
22–24 °C: 1 records
24–26 °C: 19 records
26–28 °C: 49 records
28–30 °C: 745 records

Photos

(c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) ajott, 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
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Ульяна Лалак, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Valentin Moser, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: knob coral

Names in 2 more languages

Japanese: ホシキクメイシ
Simplified Chinese: 小菊珊瑚

Other scientific names: Astraea (Orbicella) stelligera, Astraea hombroni, Astraea lobata, Astrea (Favia) hombroni, Astrea hombroni, Astrea stelligera, Dipsastraea stelligera, Favia armata, Favia hombroni, Favia hombronii, Favia lobata, Favia pseudostelligera, Favia stelligera, Favites armata, Goniastrea hombroni, Goniastrea hombronii, Heliastrea orion, Orbicella orion, Orbicella stelligera, Parastrea hombroni, Parastrea hombronii, Parastrea lobata, Plesiastraea stelligera, Plesiastrea armata, Plesiastrea carli

Similar species

Lesser star coral
Goniastrea pectinata
Lesser star coral
Goniastrea edwardsi
Lesser star coral
Goniastrea favulus
Lesser star coral
Goniastrea retiformis
Lesser star coral
Goniastrea minuta
Lesser star coral
Goniastrea thecata

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).
4,117 open-data records from 1846 to 2012.
Species data updated November 3, 2026.

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