---
title: Orange Cup Coral (Tubastraea coccinea)
scientific_name: Tubastraea coccinea
common_name: Orange Cup Coral
taxon: Hard corals
published: 2026-07-26T11:46:30.693Z
updated: 2026-08-14T11:57:50.811Z
tags: Orange Cup Coral, Tubastraea coccinea, Hard corals, Red Sea, Marine Life, Diving
url: https://redseacreatures.com/taxon/invertebrate/stinging/hard-corals/orange-cup-coral
---

# Orange Cup Coral (*Tubastraea coccinea*)

## Quick facts

- **Group:** Hard corals (*Scleractinia*)
- **Size:** up to 30 cm
- **Depth:** 3-100 m
- **Diet:** Planktivore
- **Activity:** Nocturnal
- **Rarity:** Rare
- **Habitat:** ceilings of caves, deep overhangs, and shaded reef walls
- **Reproduction:** Gonochoric
- **Hazard:** Dangerous, Venomous
- **CITES:** Appendix II

## How to recognise it

- vibrant bouquet of bright orange tentacles
- tightly clustered and closely spaced corallites
- brilliant neon-orange polyps

Tubastraea coccinea, known as Orange Cup Coral, forms colonies of tightly clustered, cylindrical corallites. Each polyp, when extended, measures 1-2 cm (0.4-0.8 in) in diameter and displays a bright orange to yellow-orange coloration. The colony's overall size can reach up to 30 cm (12 in) in diameter. Polyps are typically retracted into their stony skeletons during daylight hours, appearing as small, dark cups, but extend their numerous stinging tentacles for feeding at night or in low light conditions. Unlike most reef-building corals, this species is azooxanthellate, meaning it lacks symbiotic algae and does not rely on sunlight for energy.

This coral typically inhabits shaded environments such as cave ceilings, deep overhangs, and vertical reef walls, occurring from depths of 3 m (10 ft) down to at least 40 m (130 ft). Its independence from sunlight allows it to thrive in these dark, nutrient-rich locations. T. coccinea is a nocturnal feeder, capturing zooplankton with its extended tentacles when currents bring food particles within reach. Though found in various tropical waters globally, its presence in the Red Sea is considered less common than in some other regions.

Tubastraea coccinea is gonochoric, with separate male and female colonies. It reproduces by brooding its larvae internally, releasing lecithotrophic planulae that settle rapidly after a short pelagic phase. This reproductive strategy allows for colonization of new surfaces without reliance on external fertilization or long-distance dispersal.

## Also known as

- **English:** orange cup coral, Sun Coral, Red Cup Coral
- **French:** Tubastrée orange
- **German:** Goldene Kelchkoralle
- **Spanish:** Tubastraea Naranja
- **Portuguese:** Coral Sol, Coral-sol-do-Indo-Pacífico
- **Czech:** dendrofyla zlatá, dendrofyla šarlatová
- **Japanese:** ヒメイボヤギ
- **Chinese:** 圓管星珊瑚, 短管星珊瑚
- **Russian:** Оранжевый солнечный коралл (или Оранжевая тубастрея)
- **KO:** 금빛나팔돌산호
- **LT:** Apelsininis saulenis
- **TH:** ปะการังถ้วยส้ม

## Scientific synonyms

- *Astropsammia pedersenii* Verrill, 1869
- *Caryophyllia aurantiaca* (Dana, 1846)
- *Caryophyllia calycularis* Lamarck, 1836
- *Cladocora calycularis* (Lamarck, 1836)
- *Coenopsammia affinis* (Duncan, 1889)
- *Coenopsammia coccinea* (Lesson, 1830)
- *Coenopsammia ehrenbergiana* Milne Edwards & Haime, 1848
- *Coenopsammia gaimardi* Milne Edwards & Haime, 1848
- *Coenopsammia manni* Verrill, 1866
- *Coenopsammia radiata* Verrill, 1864
- *Coenopsammia tenuilamellosa* Milne Edwards & Haime, 1848
- *Coenopsammia urvillii* Milne Edwards & Haime, 1848
- *Dendrophyllia (Coenopsammia) affinis* Duncan, 1889
- *Dendrophyllia affinis* Duncan, 1889
- *Dendrophyllia aurantiaca* Dana, 1846
- *Dendrophyllia circularis* Verrill, 1869
- *Dendrophyllia coccinea* (Lesson, 1830)
- *Dendrophyllia ehrenbergiana* (Milne Edwards & Haime, 1848)
- *Dendrophyllia manni* (Verrill, 1866)
- *Dendrophyllia radiata* (Verrill, 1864)
- *Dendrophyllia surcularis* Verrill, 1869
- *Dendrophyllia tenuilamellosa* (Milne Edwards & Haime, 1848)
- *Dendrophyllia turbinata* Nemenzo, 1960
- *Lobopsammia darwini* Duncan, 1876
- *Pachypsammia valida* Verrill, 1866

## Range

Atlantic Ocean, Belize, Brazil, Caribbean Sea, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Gulf of Mexico, High Seas, Honduras, India, Indo-Pacific, Mexico, Midway Atoll, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, North Atlantic Ocean, Puerto Rican Exclusive Economic Zone, South Pacific Ocean, United States, Venezuela, West Africa

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*Source: [Red Sea Creatures](https://redseacreatures.com/taxon/invertebrate/stinging/hard-corals/orange-cup-coral)*
*Updated: August 14, 2026*