It is a large polyp, solitary, free-living coral and is usually found on soft substrates.

Heterocyathus aequicostatus is a small, solitary, free-living coral with a flat base.

These continue over the rim of the corallite as prominent costa (ridges) down to the smooth, flat base.

[1][3] Heterocyathus aequicostatus is native to the tropical and sub-tropical Indo-Pacific region, its range extending from Madagascar and the Arabian Peninsula to Indonesia, Australia, the Philippines and Japan.

[3] This coral sometimes harbours photosynthetic, single-celled dinoflagellates called Zooxanthellae in its tissues.