Sunstroke Chalice

Sunstroke Chalice is a brilliantly colored chalice coral in the family Lobophylliidae, a group that includes several genera commonly sold in the reef aquarium trade as chalice corals, including Echinophyllia spp. and related species. This specimen displays intense orange-red coloration across the colony with brilliant yellow to gold centers, contrasting green-gold ridges, and vivid fluorescent highlights.

Chalice corals typically form encrusting to plating colonies with fleshy tissue covering a hard calcium carbonate skeleton. Their large, well-defined corallites create the distinctive “eyes” seen across the colony, while valleys and raised skeletal ridges produce the sculpted texture characteristic of many chalice corals.

The Sunstroke Chalice is especially striking under blue-rich reef aquarium lighting, where its fiery red-orange tissue and fluorescent yellow-gold centers develop exceptional contrast. As the colony grows, it can gradually encrust surrounding rockwork and develop a broader plating or irregular growth form depending on placement and environmental conditions.

Like other photosynthetic stony corals, chalice corals obtain much of their energy from symbiotic photosynthetic dinoflagellates living within their tissues. They are also capable of capturing suspended plankton and appropriately sized particulate foods, particularly after the aquarium lights begin to dim.

Because the aquarium trade name “chalice coral” includes multiple genera with overlapping external characteristics, exact genus or species identification cannot be made reliably from appearance alone. For this specimen, Echinophyllia spp. and related chalice species is the most scientifically responsible identification.

Care Guide

Scientific Identification: Echinophyllia spp. and related chalice species
Common Name: Chalice Coral
Care Level: Moderate
Lighting: Low to Moderate
Water Flow: Low to Moderate, indirect
Placement: Lower to middle areas of the aquarium depending on lighting intensity
Temperament: Aggressive; allow space from neighboring corals
Reef Compatibility: Reef safe with appropriate spacing
Feeding: Primarily photosynthetic; may benefit from occasional appropriately sized planktonic or meaty coral foods
Growth Form: Encrusting to plating calcium carbonate skeleton covered by fleshy tissue
Water Parameters: Maintain stable reef aquarium temperature and salinity along with consistent alkalinity, calcium, and magnesium. Maintain measurable and reasonably stable nitrate and phosphate levels.
Special Considerations: Chalice corals can extend feeding or sweeper tentacles beyond the visible edge of the colony, particularly at night. Provide sufficient space from neighboring corals. Avoid intense direct flow that can damage the fleshy tissue, and acclimate gradually when moving the coral into stronger lighting.