---
title: "Orange Cup Coral"
description: "Balanophyllia elegans — Other animals. Balanophyllia elegans, the orange coral or orange cup coral, is a species of solitary cup coral, a stony coral in the family Dendrophylliidae."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/orange-cup-coral-balanophyllia-elegans
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Orange Cup Coral

> Balanophyllia elegans — Other animals. Balanophyllia elegans, the orange coral or orange cup coral, is a species of solitary cup coral, a stony coral in the family Dendrophylliidae.

- Scientific name: *Balanophyllia elegans*
- Category: `other` (Other animals)
- Habitats: `sea` (Sea & coast)
- iNaturalist observations: 1533
- Wikidata: [Q3955389](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3955389)
- iNaturalist taxon: [51799](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/51799)

## Names

- en: Orange Cup Coral
- es: Coral Copa Elegante
- nl: Balanophyllia (Balanophyllia) elegans

## Countries with the most observations

US (951), CA (460)

## Summary

Balanophyllia elegans, the orange coral or orange cup coral, is a species of solitary cup coral, a stony coral in the family Dendrophylliidae. It is native to the eastern Pacific Ocean. As an azooxanthellate species, it does not contain symbiotic dinoflagellates in its tissues in the way that most corals do.

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

## Photo

![Orange Cup Coral](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/orange-cup-coral-balanophyllia-elegans/medium.jpg)

Photo: Jessica Carver · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/329797279

## Machine access

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