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Scolymia australis

Currently accepted name: Homophyllia australis

A large-polyp hard coral that usually lives as a single disc rather than as a colony. 2 5 The valid name today is Homophyllia australis: Scolymia australis is an outdated combination. 1 The original specimens come from Port Lincoln, in South Australia. 5

LobophylliidaeLPSIUCN: VulnerableCITES II
Scolymia australis

At a glance

Data from the scientific sources listed at the bottom.

Depth in the wild

0–40 m

0 m10 m20 m30 m40 m50 m

Size

up to 6 cm

0246810

usual disc diameter; up to 9.75 cm in a Queensland sample

Conservation

NEDDLCNTVUENCREWEX

IUCN Red List: vulnerable (2022). CITES: Appendix II. The listed criterion is A3ce. 2 The CITES listing covers the whole order and has been in force since 18 January 1990; in the European Union it is in Annex B. Species+ still lists it as Scolymia australis. 3 In the Queensland coral fishery, an assessment rates it at 'extreme' risk. Together with five other large-polyp species it reached 14.2 tonnes, about 318,000 pieces, in 2019-2020; there is no figure for this species alone. 6

Where it lives

Red SeaWestern Indian OceanEastern Indian OceanCentral Indo-PacificWestern PacificCentral PacificEastern PacificWestern AtlanticEastern AtlanticMediterranean

Western Indo-Pacific: from Indonesia to Norfolk Island, north to Japan and south to Australia. 2 Species+ lists Australia, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Caledonia, Norfolk Island, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Vietnam. 3 In Australia the specimens studied come from Port Lincoln, Moreton Bay and Lord Howe. 5

The coral

Group: LPS

Growth form: a single disc less than 6 cm across; rarely 2-4 centres; in the genus also massive colonies

Zooxanthellae: yes

How to recognise it

Tap a number on the photo: the key explains what to look for.

123
  1. 1Single disc usually solitary, saucer-shaped and less than 6 cm across 2 5
  2. 2Septa strong and arranged like the spokes of a wheel 2
  3. 3Mixed colours often combinations of cream, red, blue and green 2

Life in the wild

Where it is found

Reef environments and, at high latitudes, rocky headlands. 2 SeaLifeBase gives 0-40 m 2, while Carpenter et al. give 10-40 m. 7 In Queensland, where it is collected for the trade, one study describes it among the free-living corals of sandy bottoms between reefs, under the name Homophyllia cf. australis. 6 At Feather Reef, on the Great Barrier Reef, it was sampled at 10 m. 4 8

What it eats

It hosts symbiotic algae (zooxanthellae). 4 9 At Feather Reef the symbiont found was type C1. 4 8 I found no studies on food capture in this species.

In the aquarium

From the experience of the BallingMania community.

Community rating
Position in the tank
lowmediumhigh
Water flow
lowmediumhigh
Light intensity
lowmediumhigh
Aggression
lowmediumhigh
Care difficulty
lowmediumhigh
Original sheet

This LPS is found in the southern Pacific Ocean, along the southern coasts of Australia.

It has the shape of a single disc, generally no more than 6 cm in diameter, in the centre of which is the mouth, usually single, surrounded in turn by a raised crown that hides the tentacles, which are visible above all at night when the coral feeds. During the day it inflates, increasing the surface exposed to the light, while at night it shrinks and the tentacles are extended.

It does not tolerate direct light or a strong, constant water current; it can be considered a hardy coral, tolerant of chemical and physical water values that are not quite optimal. The symbiotic algae meet only part of its nutritional needs, so its diet should be supplemented with small pieces of frozen shrimp, Artemia, mysis, krill or chironomus placed gently on the tentacles when they are extended.

photo by: Antonio Camerlingo

Did you know?

Among related species it may be the only one that lives mainly alone, although specimens with several mouths exist, including one of the two original specimens. 5
In the past it was suggested that it was just a cold-water form of Scolymia vitiensis; the two species, however, have remained separate and today are in different genera. 5
In a sample of 436 specimens from Queensland the average weight was about 73 g, the lowest of the six species studied; the specimens were often brown, a colour less in demand on the ornamental market. 6

Sources

  1. Hoeksema B.W., Cairns S., Samimi-Namin K. (2026). Homophyllia australis (Milne Edwards & Haime, 1848). World List of Scleractinia, via WoRMS.
  2. Palomares M.L.D., Pauly D. (eds.) (2026). Homophyllia australis. SeaLifeBase.
  3. UNEP-WCMC (2026). Scolymia australis, CITES listings and distribution. Species+.
  4. Madin J. et al. (eds.) (2026). Homophyllia australis. Coral Trait Database.
  5. Huang D., Arrigoni R., Benzoni F. et al. (2016). Taxonomic classification of the reef coral family Lobophylliidae (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Scleractinia). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society.
  6. Pacey K.I., Caballes C.F., Pratchett M.S. (2023). Using size-weight relationships to estimate biomass of heavily targeted aquarium corals by Australia's coral harvest fisheries. Scientific Reports.
  7. Carpenter K.E., Abrar M., Aeby G. et al. (2008). One-third of reef-building corals face elevated extinction risk from climate change and local impacts. Science, reference in the Coral Trait Database.
  8. LaJeunesse T.C., Bhagooli R., Hidaka M. et al. (2004). Closely related Symbiodinium spp. differ in relative dominance in coral reef host communities across environmental, latitudinal and biogeographic gradients. Marine Ecology Progress Series, reference in the Coral Trait Database.
  9. Cairns S.D. (1999). Species richness of recent Scleractinia. Atoll Research Bulletin, reference in the Coral Trait Database.

Sources checked on 5 November 2026. Community texts and ratings are kept separate from the scientific data.

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