Biodiversity & Conservation

Sunset cup coral - Leptopsammia pruvoti - General information

Leptopsammia pruvoti

Image Sue Scott - Leptopsammia pruvoti. Image width ca 3 cm.
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Distribution map

Leptopsammia pruvoti recorded (dark blue bullet) and expected (light blue bullet) distribution in Britain and Ireland (see below)

Why do the maps differ?

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  • CITES
  • UK_BAP

General information

Key Icon Researched by: Angus Jackson Text page icon Refereed by: Paul Tranter

Taxonomy icon Taxonomy

Phylum Cnidaria Sea anemones, corals, sea firs & jellyfish
Class Hexacorallia
Map icon Recorded distribution in Britain and Ireland Portland Bill, Lyme Bay, off Plymouth Sound, the Isles of Scilly and Lundy only. Believed to no longer occur in North Devon near Ilfracombe where it was present in 1969 (K. Hiscock, pers. comm.)
Habitat information icon Habitat information Leptopsammia pruvoti prefers shaded bedrock or stable boulders and is typically found in caves and gullies or under overhangs. Found at open coast locations mainly facing away from prevailing winds. It is commonest between 10 and 30 m with a maximum depth of 40 m recorded in the western Mediterranean.
Text page icon Description The sunset cup coral is a bright yellow or orange stony coral. It has a tentacular polyp that emerges from a porous, calcareous skeleton. The skeleton may be short and cylindrical or tall and inversely conical. It is typically solitary but is rarely found in small groups forming 'pseudocolonies'. The tentacles are quite long and number around 96. When fully retracted the tentacles are barely visible inside the skeleton.

This review can be cited as follows:

Angus Jackson 2008. Leptopsammia pruvoti. Sunset cup coral. Marine Life Information Network: Biology and Sensitivity Key Information Sub-programme [on-line]. Plymouth: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. [cited 22/05/2013]. Available from: <http://www.marlin.ac.uk/speciesfullreview.php?speciesID=3657>