Echinomorpha nishihiraiis a distinctive looking chalice coral which can be quite a showstopper. Often eclipsed by the much more readily availableEchinophyllia,Oxypora和Mycediumchalice corals,Echinomorpha以突出的，大的中央珊瑚岩和极少数，间隔较大的外围冠状动脉（如果有的话）来区分。
Every time we see anEchinomorphacoral, we have to do a double take and cross check it with other species of chalice corals which also can have a large central corallite, such asOxypora glabra和Echinophyllia echinata。虽然Echinomorpha是一个罕见的珊瑚，只有偶尔出现在圣杯珊瑚的装运中，似乎最近在水族馆贸易中出现了巨大的殖民地样本。
Liveaquaria，Cherry Corals和一些欧洲供应商最近也是k进口的优势Echinomorpha群落。Liveaquaria列出了一个令人惊叹的两片殖民地Echinomorpha在潜水员的书房中，以379美元的价格 - 该标本为蓝灰色，大约3.5英寸，并由两个带有红色口腔盘的大型冠状发岩主导。樱桃珊瑚Echinomorphaindividual is a single blue grey corallite surrounded by a wide perimeter of skeleton covered with a beautiful veneer of blue and green-splashed tissue.
可能的原因之一hy the aquarium hobby hasn’t fully embraced and popularized the single species ofEchinomorphais that since it has very few corallites, the path to captive propagation is not as clear cut as with other chalice corals. With only a few single corallites per colony and a whole lotta tissue between them, it makes no sense to put anEchinomorpha nishihiraiunder the bandsaw since you can only realistically turn a single beautiful colony into three or four fresh-cut mini colonies. Because of its reduced propagation potential,Echinomorpha nishihirai是一个独特的珊瑚殖民地，真正适合圣杯珊瑚收藏家。[[目标]
