---
title: "Boulder Brain Coral"
description: "Colpophyllia natans — Other animals. Colpophyllia is a genus of stony corals in the family Mussidae."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/boulder-brain-coral
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Boulder Brain Coral

> Colpophyllia natans — Other animals. Colpophyllia is a genus of stony corals in the family Mussidae.

- Scientific name: *Colpophyllia natans*
- Category: `other` (Other animals)
- Habitats: `sea` (Sea & coast)
- iNaturalist observations: 1374
- Wikidata: [Q868382](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q868382)
- iNaturalist taxon: [98317](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/98317)

## Names

- en: Boulder Brain Coral
- es: Coral cerebro de valles amplios
- fr: Corail-cerveau Natan

## Countries with the most observations

MX (143), PA (134), US (75), CW (66), HN (55), KY (53), VI (36), PR (34), CU (33), GP (31), BZ (24), MQ (23)

## Summary

Colpophyllia is a genus of stony corals in the family Mussidae. It is monotypic with a single species, Colpophyllia natans, commonly known as boulder brain coral or large-grooved brain coral. It inhabits the slopes and tops of reefs, to a maximum depth of 50 metres (164 ft). It is characterised by large, domed colonies, which may be up to 2 metres (6 ft 7 in) across, and by the meandering network of ridges and valleys on its surface. The ridges are usually brown with a single groove, and the valleys may be tan, green, or white and are uniform in width, typically 2 centimetres (0.8 in). The polyps only extend their…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colpophyllia

## Photo

![Boulder Brain Coral](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/boulder-brain-coral/medium.jpg)

Photo: Bria Morgan · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/200540235

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/boulder-brain-coral?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).