Small Encrusting Coral

Astrangia poculata, the northern star coral or northern cup coral, is a species of non-reefbuilding stony coral in the family Rhizangiidae. It is native to shallow water in the western Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists this coral as being of "least concern". Astrangia poculata is an emerging experimental and model organism for corals because it harbors a facultative photosymbiosis, is a calcifying coral, and has a large geographic range. Research on this emerging experimental system is showcased bi-annually by the Temperate Coral Research Working Group, collaboratively hosted by Roger Williams University, Tufts University, and Southern Connecticut State University

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