Orange cup coral (''Tubastraea coccinea'') belongs to a group of corals known as large-polyp stony corals. This non-reef building coral extends beautiful translucent tentacles at night. ''Tubastraea coccinea'' is heterotrophic and does not contain zooxanthellae in its tissues as many tropical corals do, allowing it to grow in complete darkness as long as it can capture enough food.

Habitat

''Tubastraea coccinea'' inhabits shaded vertical surfaces and caverns down to huge depths. Orange-cup-corals are also found in very cold water throughout the world. Orange-cup corals often dominate tropical habitats not occupied by other coral species, such as wrecks and cryptic reef habitats. They also colonize artificial structures, but experiments have demonstrated similar preferences for granite, cement, steel and tile. In Brazil, they are most abundant in the shallow sub-tidal zone at shallow depths between 0m and 3m.De Paula & Creed, 2004, 2005, Creed 2006

Invasive introduction and range

Although ''Tubastraea coccinea'' is listed in the

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species CITES (shorter name for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of interna ...

(CITES) website and database, it often competes with other

benthic The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. The name comes from ancient Greek, βένθος (bénthos), meaning "t ...

invertebrates for substratum space. This may put native species at risk, particularly sponges and native corals. Local exclusion or extinction of such species may occur, and the removal of the native corals may reduce the production of the entire ecosystem, compromising ecosystem functions. ''Tubastraea coccinea'' is native to the

Indo-Pacific The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth. In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the ...

region, it has been recorded at Sonadia Island, Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh in 2013, by Marinelife Alliance, research organization. However, it has been introduced to the Atlantic, Brazilian Exclusive Economic Zone, the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...

, the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...

, New Zealand Exclusive Economic Zone, and the West African region and Mediterranean Sea (Malta) as well.

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q3940718 Dendrophylliidae Animals described in 1829