A few years ago, if you asked me aboutAstreopora或者Cyphastrea, I probably would not have a whole lot to contribute to the discussion. They were (and still are to a large degree) some of the most rare corals imported and seldom seen in stores. I still remember the first time I saw a “Meteor Shower”Cyphastrea被一个way by its incredible contrast of red and blue. Over the years, more and more color morphs made their way stateside and, thankfully, people started propagating them.
他们很相似...
We try our best to separate corals into their respective categories to make it easier to shop for stuff, and occasionally we run into close calls likeCyphastrea和Astreopora有时真的很难分开。
Obviously, their appearance is similar. They have small polyps that grow out from a web-like, textured coenosteum (calcareous skeleton).Astreoporaappear to grow polyps on top of little raised mounds whileCyphastreaseem have their polyps tight against the coenosteum. The two corals grow in much the same fashion in that they encrust the substrate around them rather than form branches or tubercles.
The care requirements of bothCyphastrea和Astreopora相似。它们在弱光和中等流动中表现良好。实际上，我敢说，这些珊瑚在可以想象的最低光系统中表现最好。两个都Astreopora和Cyphastrea显着改变颜色，但是Cyphastrea特别是从季节到一个季节，看起来像完全不同的珊瑚。
When they get too much light, they turn an unflattering brown color and stop growing. The specimens we sell in the summer look nothing like the ones we sell in the winter.
As for feeding, we do not go out of our way to spot feed them. We’ve tried some feeding with finely ground pellet food with mixed results. If you are curious, you can take a look at feeding responses in the videos for Reef Roids and珊瑚狂.
…But also so different
尽管上面概述了相似之处，但事实证明，从分类学角度来看，这些珊瑚与众不同。Astreoporaare from the family Acroporidae. If that sounds remarkably similar toAcropora, your mind is not playing tricks on you.Acroporaare also from that family, as are other SPS such asMontipora和Anacropora.
Cyphastrea, on the other hand, are from the family Faviidae. If that happens to sound a little like a popular brain coral…well, it does for a reason. Faviidae is a large family that contains most of what are referred to in the hobby as brain corals, such asFavia,最爱，甚至是某些圣战Echinopora.
So we have these two corals that look really similar and behave similarly but are categorized in really different areas of the animal kingdom. It goes to show just how much significance scientists place on unseen details in the classification of these corals, such as skeletal structure under the skin. DNA testing is also playing a significant role in classification.
说到DNA测试，最近一些与动物学相关的出版物重新定义了基于基因组成和物理特征的几个主要珊瑚属。随着信息获得，地球上所有生命的分类都会不断重新分类，对于最初在1800年代被分类的珊瑚等有机体尤其如此。
Author: Than Thein
