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Coral Guides

Coral identification articles

Browse the newest coral ID guides or narrow the list by reef category.

Brain coral close-up showing wall and corallite patterns useful for skeleton-based ID
Aug 21, 2026General11 min read

Coral Skeleton Clues

How corallites, walls, branches, septa, and growth forms help identify stony corals from photos.

Cropped elegance coral tentacles showing fleshy polyp shape for morphology comparison
Aug 18, 2026General11 min read

Coral Polyp Shape Guide

How tentacles, mouths, skirts, polyp spacing, and extension patterns help identify reef aquarium corals.

Cropped Cyphastrea colony showing encrusting edge and star-like polyp spacing
Aug 14, 2026General10 min read

Encrusting Coral Identification Guide

How to identify corals that grow over rock using growth edge, polyp spacing, texture, and skeleton clues.

Turbinaria reniformis plate coral showing a plating growth form and surface texture
Aug 11, 2026General10 min read

Plating Coral Identification Guide

How to identify plating corals by growth edge, corallites, eyes, tissue texture, and likely Montipora or chalice lookalikes.

Seriatopora hystrix birdsnest coral showing fine SPS branch structure
Aug 7, 2026SPS12 min read

SPS Coral Lookalikes

Common mistakes in Acropora, Montipora, Pocillopora, Stylophora, Seriatopora, and encrusting SPS identification.

Candy cane coral heads showing beginner-friendly LPS polyp structure
Aug 4, 2026LPS11 min read

Beginner LPS Coral Types

Easy large polyp stony corals to recognize, compare, place, and care for in beginner reef aquariums.

Soft coral colony showing lobed tissue and flexible growth form
Jul 31, 2026General12 min read

Soft Coral Identification Guide

A practical guide to common soft coral types, including leathers, mushrooms, zoanthids, cloves, Xenia, and GSP.

Aquarium store coral and livestock display used as context for reef shop labels
Jul 28, 2026General10 min read

Why Reef Store Coral Labels Are Often Wrong or Incomplete

Why coral shop labels can be inconsistent and how to verify names before making care or buying decisions.

Cropped reef tank coral scene used for AI coral identification accuracy context
Jul 24, 2026General11 min read

Can AI Identify Coral Accurately?

What AI coral identification can and cannot do, how to interpret confidence, and when a human verification step matters.