Astroides

Astroides is a genus of stony cup corals in the family Dendrophylliidae. It is monotypic and the only species is Astroides calycularis, which is endemic to the western Mediterranean Sea. The species was first described in 1766 by the German naturalist Peter Simon Pallas.

==Description== Astroides calycularis is a colonial coral, consisting of a group of polyps, each of which sits in a stony cup known as a calyx. The colonies are in diameter and high and each polyp is about in diameter. The polyps are yellow or orange, each with a fringe of about thirty very short tentacles surrounding a slit-shaped mouth. The colony grows by asexual reproduction, new polyps budding off existing polyps and secreting their own calices. Deep-water colonies are bush-shaped, the calices are circular and budding occurs at various heights on the calyx walls. Shallow-water colonies tend to be ellipsoid in shape, the calyces are polygonal and budding occurs in the centre of the colony as well as round the edges.