Euphyllia glabrescens is a species of large-polyped stony coral belonging to the family Euphylliidae.[1] Its common name is the torch coral due to its long sweeper tentacles tipped with potent cnidocytes.[2] It is a commonly kept species in the marine aquarium hobby, particularly specimens from Indonesia and Fiji, who fulfilled annual export quotas of 28,000 and 6,000 pieces, respectively, in 2005.[3]
Euphyllia glabrescens is a colonial coral with a phaceloid formation of corallites 20–30 millimeters (0.8 – 1.2 inches) in diameter and spaced 15–30 millimeters (0.6 – 1.2 inches) apart. Walls are thin, with sharp edges. Polyps have large tubular tentacles with knob-like tips.[4] It can be a number of colors, and is often bicolored with contrasting tentacles and polyp tips.
This is a widely distributed species, rare to the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, while uncommon through the northern Indian Ocean, the Persian Gulf, the central Indo-Pacific, Australia, Southeast Asia, southern Japan and the East China Sea, Micronesia, and American Samoa.
Euphyllia glabrescens can be founds in depths of 1 to 35 meters (3 – 115 feet) in a wide range of reef environments