Double star coral
Diploastrea heliopora
Valid name (WoRMS, AphiaID 207417, checked 2026-10-31).
- English
- Double star coral
- Scientific
- Diploastrea heliopora
- Dhivehi
- No recorded Dhivehi name
- Group
- Hard corals
- Depth and habitat
- Reef-associated, recorded from 3 to 56 m
- IUCN status
- LC · Least ConcernLeast Concern (LC), assessed 2023CITES Appendix II
Description
A massive coral that forms large, smooth, dome-shaped colonies covered in big, round, cone-shaped cups with thick walls. Colonies are usually grey, brown, cream or greenish. It grows slowly and can reach several metres across, and is quite resistant to disturbance. It is one of the easier massive corals to recognise underwater.
In the Maldives
Recorded from the Maldives: museum specimens (n=3); iNaturalist research-grade observations in the Maldives (n=23); literature records via OBIS (Hexacorallians of the World (Fautin 2013), IndOBIS).
Sources
- sealifebase.se /summary/Diploastrea-heliopora.html
- marinespecies.org /aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=207417
- commons.wikimedia.org /wiki/File:Helcogramma_striata_(Neon_triplefin)_on_Diploastrea_heliopo
Dhivehi name source: No species-level Dhivehi name found in Dhivehi Wikipedia, SeaLifeBase (country: Maldives) or MRS/MMRI invertebrate publications.