Echinopora pacificus (Pavement Coral) Care Guide

Echinopora pacificus is a photosynthetic Pacific stony coral forming encrusting pavement-like plates; a hardy beginner LPS coral.

Overview

Echinopora pacificus is a colonial stony coral of the family Merulinidae, described by Veron in 1990. It is zooxanthellate (photosynthetic) and grows as encrusting, pavement-like plates, which gives it its common aquarium name. A bright neon-green morph is popular, and it is regarded as a hardy, beginner-friendly LPS coral.

Taxonomy

• Order: Scleractinia
• Family: Merulinidae
• Genus: Echinopora (established by Lamarck, 1816)
• Scientific name: Echinopora pacificus
• WoRMS revision: accepted name is Echinopora pacifica (Veron, 1990), a grammatical correction of the epithet
• Common names: Pavement Coral, Hedgehog Coral

Habitat

The species is widespread in the tropical Pacific, recorded from Australia and the Great Barrier Reef across Indonesia, the Philippines, Micronesia and many western Pacific island groups. Colonies are usually unifacial plates with laminar margins and encrusting centres, with corallites up to about 10 mm in diameter.

Tank requirements

• Salinity: 1.024–1.026 SG
• Temperature: 24–26 °C (75–79 °F)
• pH: 8.1–8.4
• dKH (alkalinity): 8–11
• Calcium: 400–450 ppm
• Magnesium: 1280–1350 ppm
• Nitrate: below 5 ppm; phosphate below 0.03 ppm
• Lighting: medium (about 75–175 PAR)
• Flow: medium
• Minimum tank age: about 3 months

Feeding

It is mainly photosynthetic, deriving energy from its symbiotic zooxanthellae under suitable lighting. It does not strictly require feeding but can take fine foods such as reef-roids; moderate flow helps keep its plates free of sediment.

Compatibility

Echinopora is moderately aggressive and can extend sweeper tentacles at night, so several centimetres of clearance from neighbouring corals is advised. With spacing it is reef-, shrimp- and fish-safe.