azooxanthellate

Little is known of the biology of this coral. Limited monitoring of populations at Lundy and the Isles of Scilly suggests that settlement of new corals does not occur every year. This is possibly determined by long-term cycles in factors such as water temperature; settlement only occurring in warmer years (4).

 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.The synonym Leptopsammia microcardia was last used by Abel (1959) and Rutzler, 1966 despite the general recognition of their synonymy since 1954.

The slow-growing and long-lived sunset cup coral has a porous skeleton (1) about the size of a thimble (2). The polyps are similar in appearance to sea anemones and are bright yellow in colour, reaching up to three centimetres in diameter (2).

Solitary stony coral. Corallum often tall and inversely conical, its texture is slightly spongy but less so and tougher than Balanophyllia, up to 60mm tall and nearly 20mm in diameter. The polyp is yellow or orange in colour and has up to 96 tentacles. Could be confused with yellow or orange specimens of Balanophyllia regia but Leptopsammia pruvoti is a much larger species.

Azores Exclusive Economic Zone, East North Atlantic, European waters (ERMS scope), Greek Exclusive Economic Zone, Portugese Exclusive Economic Zone, Spanish Exclusive Economic Zone, United Kingdom Exclusive Economic Zone

Recorded in the north-east Atlantic in the Channel Isles, Brittany and Portugal, it is also found in the Mediterranean. It was first recorded in Britain in 1969 from the island of Lundy, and is now known to occur in a few isolated sites in the south-west of England (1).

shelf

Depth range based on 24 specimens in 1 taxon.
Water temperature and chemistry ranges based on 21 samples.

Environmental ranges
  Depth range (m): 15 - 440
  Temperature range (°C): 15.316 - 17.280
  Nitrate (umol/L): 0.326 - 2.723
  Salinity (PPS): 37.326 - 38.444
  Oxygen (ml/l): 5.528 - 5.543
  Phosphate (umol/l): 0.095 - 0.121
  Silicate (umol/l): 1.379 - 3.592

Graphical representation

Depth range (m): 15 - 440

Temperature range (°C): 15.316 - 17.280

Nitrate (umol/L): 0.326 - 2.723

Salinity (PPS): 37.326 - 38.444

Oxygen (ml/l): 5.528 - 5.543

Phosphate (umol/l): 0.095 - 0.121

Silicate (umol/l): 1.379 - 3.592
 
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 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.

This species preferentially inhabits shaded areas of bedrock, for example in caves and gullies or under overhangs (1), and usually occurs below the depth of kelp forests (2).

Attached to rocks in crevices sheltered from strong water movement; from about 10-40m. Several corals may grow together, forming a pseudocolony.

The sunset cup coral is not listed under any Directives or Conventions and is not protected by UK legislation. It is a UK BAP priority species (1).

In U.K. waters the sunset cup coral reaches the northern limit of its range. This means it probably exists here at the limit of the environmental extremes it can tolerate. Consequently, it may be particularly susceptible to relatively small changes in its environment. For example, slight drops in water temperature may prevent successful reproduction. Populations at Lundy may fail to successfully recruit new corals as Lundy is a small island swept by strong currents. Thus larvae may be carried away before they are able to settle on suitable rock.

The sunset cup coral has been targeted as a priority species by UK Biodiversity Action Plan. The Species Action Plan that results from this process aims to improve current understanding of the life history, range and numbers of the species and to maintain the extent and numbers of all populations discovered by 2004 (1).