Cnidaria
Astrangia poculata
Size
Colony height: to 12cm (5") Colony width: 12cm (5"), Individual polyps: 0.6cm (0.25") diameter
Recognition Characters
Colonies are encrusting, submassive, or branching. Colonies are both zooxanthellate and azooxanthellate, depending primarily on light conditions. Corallites are tightly compacted, mostly circular and up to 10 mm in diameter. Corallite walls are well defined. Septal margins are beaded. Columellae are well developed. 30 septa.
Color
Translucent to brown, depending on the presence of zooxanthellae. Also pinkish to white.
Habitat & Depth
Colonizes rocky shores and jetty pilings. Also encrust limestone reefs and ledges offshore. To at least 30m maybe deeper.
Distribution at GRNMS
Common. Attach to vertical substrates or the top of ledges.
Geographic Range
Cape Cod, Massachusetts south to the Florida Keys and Gulf of Mexico
Behavior & Notes
A. poculata was previously known as A. astreiformis in the Gulf of Mexico and A. danae in the Western Atlantic. Both of these former names are now both assigned to A. poculata.
Synonyms
Astrangia danae, Astrangia astreiformis
Meinkoth 1981