We saw these at various reef sites, including Ligpo, Red Rock, Twin Rocks, Mato Point and Koala. These are always found around colonies of Tubastraea or Dendrophyllia, upon which they feed and lay their egg masses. A very similar species is Epidendrium sordidum which has been reported to often live on the same coral colonies as E. aureum, and is distinguished by distinctly variable spacing between the ribs. In these living, uncleaned shells, we can often not accurately determine rib spacing, so it is possible that both species are represented below.
Created 11 February 2020