Nierstrasz's coral

Psammocora nierstraszi

Corals and anemones
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth15–49 m
Water temperature-0–29 °C
Best monthsFebruary
How commonOccasional

Photo credit: (c) Ewout Knoester, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), uploaded by Ewout Knoester · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist

About this species

Psammocora nierstraszi, also called Molokai cauliflower coral, is a coral in the family Psammocoridae found in the Indo-Pacific Ocean.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Psammocora nierstraszi”, 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: 9 records
February: 212 records
March: 96 records
April: 69 records
May: 13 records
June: 6 records
July: 11 records
August: 36 records
September: 26 records
October: 19 records
November: 9 records
December: 11 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 15–49 m · Deepest record: 57 m

0–10 m: 30 records
10–20 m: 51 records
20–30 m: 12 records
30–40 m: 29 records
40–50 m: 282 records
50–60 m: 38 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of -0–29 °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: 1 records
22–24 °C: 17 records
24–26 °C: 49 records
26–28 °C: 56 records
28–30 °C: 415 records

Photos

Names and classification

English: Nierstrasz's coral

Names in 1 more languages

Japanese: ヒダアミメサンゴ, ヒダアミメサンゴ［ボーンアミメサンゴ］, ボーンアミメサンゴ

Other scientific names: Psammocora (Plesioseris) nierstraszi, Psammocora (Stephanaria) vaughani, Psammocora vaughani, Psammocora verrilli

Similar species

Branched sandpaper coral
Psammocora contigua

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).
541 open-data records from 1921 to 2023.
Species data updated October 30, 2026.

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