Acropora carduus. Intermediate to keep, typical PAR 150–300, moderate to high flow.
Also sold as Tyree Red Dragon, RR Red Dragon.
A loose trade name. Sellers use it loosely, so trust the photo over the label.
Collector tier: common, reviewed 2026-08.
An Acropora carduus with smooth skin, a sparse scattering of white polyps and delicate, open branches, sold as a deepwater Acropora. The branches run pink to magenta, which shops also call red, and the tips on new growth stay pale, lavender to white.
The name marks a colour of a species more than one clone: Reef Builders calls it a morph rather than a strain, and Bali mariculture has supplied it since the early 2000s, so Tyree, RR or OG on a label is a lineage claim, not a different coral. Shops put the colour anywhere from light pink to deep red almost purple, so read the structure instead: thin open branches, few white polyps, pale tips. A Pink Cadillac is pink too, but with blue to purple polyps and green lower down. Gold, purple and blue Dragons are their own names. It takes lower light than most Acropora and can run weedy under strong light.
High light and strong random flow, up in the rockwork. Red Dragon is intermediate to keep at a typical PAR of 150–300 in moderate to high flow. A typical starting range for this type of coral, not measured on this one.
No verified sales yet. A range publishes once 3 dated, checkable records from 3 different sources exist, priced per frag and reported as a median, with what shops ask kept separate from what buyers paid. One frag is a single cut on a plug, whatever its exact size. Colonies, mini colonies and mother stock are excluded rather than averaged in. Nothing on this page is for sale.