Brain coral

Lobophyllia corymbosa

Corals and anemones
IUCN: Vulnerable

Usual depth2–14 m
Water temperature-0–30 °C
Best monthsMay and August
How commonOccasional

Photo credit: (c) Ryan McMinds, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

Lobophyllia corymbosa, also known as lobed cactus coral or brain root coral, is a species of large polyp stony coral in the family Lobophylliidae. It occurs on reefs in shallow waters in the Red Sea, off the coast of East Africa, and in other parts of the tropical Indo-Pacific.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Lobophyllia corymbosa”, 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: 22 records
February: 30 records
March: 8 records
April: 17 records
May: 70 records
June: 7 records
July: 21 records
August: 44 records
September: 21 records
October: 11 records
November: 7 records
December: 13 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 2–14 m · Deepest record: 56.5 m

0–10 m: 149 records
10–20 m: 45 records
20–30 m: 1 records
30–40 m: 0 records
40–50 m: 0 records
50–60 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: 18 records
24–26 °C: 169 records
26–28 °C: 123 records
28–30 °C: 88 records

Photos

(c) Ryan McMinds, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Ryan McMinds, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Grete Pasch, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Tom Heijnen, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Grete Pasch, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Tom Heijnen, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Brain coral, Lobed cactus coral, Lobed cup coral, Meat coral, brain coral, Brain Root Coral, lobed cactus coral, lobed cup coral, meat coral

Names in 4 more languages

German: Faltenbecherkoralle, Falten-Becherkoralle, Gelappte Becherkoralle
Japanese: マルハナガタサンゴ
Thai: ปะการังสมองหยาบรูปถ้วย
Simplified Chinese: 束瓣葉珊瑚

Other scientific names: Caryophyllia corymbosa, Lobophyllia eydouxi, Lobophyllia eydouxii, Lobophyllia fistulosa, Lobophyllia ringens, Lobophyllia rudis, Madrepora corymbosa, Mussa cactus, Mussa corymbosa, Mussa eydouxi, Mussa fistulosa, Mussa glomerata, Mussa ringens, Mussa rudis

Similar species

Lobed cactus coral
Lobophyllia hemprichii
sinuous cup coral
Lobophyllia recta
sinuous cup coral
Lobophyllia radians
sinuous cup coral
Lobophyllia agaricia
sinuous cup coral
Lobophyllia erythraea
Lobed cactus coral
Lobophyllia flabelliformis

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).
529 open-data records from 1775 to 2010.
Species data updated November 4, 2026.

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