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Meat Coral

Photo by: Valetta Clements

Scientific Name
Cynarina (SY-nuh-REE-nuh)

Common Names
Meat, Knob, Doughnut Coral

Regions
Red Sea to Japan and south to Kermadec, Fiji Region

Lighting
Low To Moderate

Aggressiveness
Very Low, will be stung by more aggressive species.

Current
None to Medium. Expands better in very little or no current. Stronger currents can tear the tissue away from the the skeleton leaving the coral open to bacterial infections and if not treated, death.

Hardiness
Very hardy. Excellent coral for beginners. Grows and expands well even under normal output fluorescent bulbs.

Placement
Substrate to low in the aquarium. Being a deep water coral they do exceptionally well under 20,000k bulbs.

These are not nano reef corals, with the proper conditions this species can inflate to better than dinner plate size. It is often adopted by clownfish mistaking it for an anemone.

Two very distinct forms of this coral are available to the trade, both are from Indonesia. C. lacrymalis (above) is very translucent and is occasionally called "Cats Eye Coral" due to this effect. C. deshayesiana is more opaque and has thicker tissue.

Valetta Clements

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