Leaf coral

About this species

Pavona clavus is a species of colonial stony coral in the family Agariciidae. It is a widespread but uncommon species known from the Indo-Pacific region, the South China Sea, the Red Sea, and the Gulf of Aden. A P. clavus colony in the Solomon Islands is considered to be the world's largest known coral.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Pavona clavus”, 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: 43 records
February: 29 records
March: 11 records
April: 129 records
May: 105 records
June: 623 records
July: 254 records
August: 107 records
September: 21 records
October: 377 records
November: 232 records
December: 21 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 3–13 m · Deepest record: 65 m

0–10 m: 299 records
10–20 m: 1,375 records
20–30 m: 32 records
30–40 m: 2 records
40–50 m: 88 records
50–60 m: 10 records
60–70 m: 26 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 23–30 °C

22–24 °C: 5 records
24–26 °C: 11 records
26–28 °C: 665 records
28–30 °C: 86 records

Photos

(c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Michael Bakker Paiva, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Ryan McMinds, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) 呂一起(Lyu yi-chi), some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Pauline Walsh Jacobson, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Leaf coral, leaf coral, Shoulderblade Coral, Star column coral

Names in 3 more languages

French: Corail scapulaire
Japanese: コモンシコロサンゴ
Simplified Chinese: 柱形雀屏珊瑚, 柱形雀屏珊瑚（柱形牡丹珊瑚）

Other scientific names: Agaricia clavus, Lophoseris clavus, Pavona (Pavona) clivosa, Pavona (Pseudocolumnastrea) galapagensis, Pavona clivosa, Pavona galapagensis, Pavona lilacea, Pavona liliacea, Pavona sphaeroidalis, Pavonia clavus, Pavonia clivosa, Pavonia liliacea, Siderastraea clava, Siderastraea lilacea, Siderastrea clava, Siderastrea clavus, Siderastrea lilacea, Siderastrea sphaeroidalis, Stylocoeniella paumotensis, Tichoseris clavus

Similar species

Leaf coral
Pavona varians
Leaf coral
Pavona cactus
Leaf coral
Pavona decussata
Leaf coral
Pavona duerdeni
Leaf coral
Pavona explanulata
Leaf coral
Pavona gigantea

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).
2,110 open-data records from 1846 to 2019.
Species data updated November 5, 2026.