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Wellsophyllia radiata is a synonym of Trachyphyllia geoffroyi. It denoted the growth form with rather flat skeleton and very colorful coloration, which is common mainly in Indonesia, but can no longer be legally imported from there. We still use the name, but for an Australian variety that comes from very muddy habitats with heavy water turbidity. In our opinion, the animals come closest to the classic Wellsophyllia in size, shape and the particularly colorful coloration nowadays. This distinction also allows us to indicate different maintenance conditions - which is extremely important, because these "Wellsophyllia" react extremely sensitive to light.Wellsophyllia
Absolute full shade is required, because even at values just above 20-30 PAR the animals start to bleach out. So it is best to keep them almost without light and to increase the light intensity only slowly and carefully over weeks, so that they do not bleach out. This light sensitivity is due to the turbid and thus heavily shaded habitat of these corals, which are found on muddy surfaces in the Australian Sea. They also take up a lot of particulate organic matter there, so supplemental feeding with powdered or fine frozen foods and higher nutrient levels are normally very positively received. The effort is worth it, because the magnificence of colors is unmatched - from red/green Bleeding Apple or green-yellow Toxic Marbled to Rainbow Wellsophyllia with yellow/orange/pink coloration everything is possible.
