Lobed cactus coral

Lobophyllia hemprichii

Corals and anemones
IUCN: Endangered

Usual depth2–13 m
Water temperature-0–30 °C
Best monthsMay and August
How commonOccasional

About this species

Lobophyllia hemprichii, commonly called lobed brain coral, lobed cactus coral or largebrain root coral, is a species of large polyp stony coral in the family Lobophylliidae. It is found in the Indo-Pacific Ocean. In its specific name Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg honoured his late partner the Prussian naturalist Wilhelm Hemprich; they were among the first to study the marine life of the Red Sea.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Lobophyllia hemprichii”, 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: 32 records
March: 8 records
April: 21 records
May: 107 records
June: 10 records
July: 13 records
August: 69 records
September: 24 records
October: 5 records
November: 1 records
December: 2 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 2–13 m · Deepest record: 56.5 m

0–10 m: 376 records
10–20 m: 98 records
20–30 m: 3 records
30–40 m: 1 records
40–50 m: 1 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: 3 records
22–24 °C: 15 records
24–26 °C: 265 records
26–28 °C: 247 records
28–30 °C: 85 records

Names and classification

English: Lobed cactus coral, Largebrain Root Coral, Largebrain Root Coral, Lobed brain coral, Lobed cactus coral, lobed cactus coral

Names in 3 more languages

German: Hemprichs Becherkoralle
Japanese: オオハナガタサンゴ
Simplified Chinese: 聯合瓣葉珊瑚

Other scientific names: Caryophyllia cristata, Favites hemprichii, Lithodendron cristatum, Lobophyllia aspera, Lobophyllia cristata, Lobophyllia cytherea, Lobophyllia echinata, Lobophyllia flexuosa, Lobophyllia multilobata, Lobophyllia sinensis, Lobophyllia tenuidentata, Madrepora cristata, Manicina hemprichii, Mussa aspera, Mussa brueggemanni, Mussa cerebriformis, Mussa cristata, Mussa cytherea, Mussa distans, Mussa echinata, Mussa erythraea, Mussa flexuosa, Mussa hemprichi, Mussa hemprichii, Mussa multilobata, Mussa sinensis, Mussa solida, Mussa studeri, Mussa tenuidentata

Similar species

Solitary cup coral
Cynarina lacrymalis

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).
1,122 open-data records from 1834 to 2012.

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