Corals grow in clear and shallow water up to depths of 60 meters or 200 feet. These organisms depend on sunlight although they can catch small fish and planktons. Most corals are found in tropical and subtropical waters.

Raspberry Coral (Pocillopora meandrina)

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The beautiful and brightly colored Raspberry Coral can attain a length of up to 20 cm. This sticky and thick-branched colony coral has branches that have a tendency to spread sideways. The tip of this coral is thicker and spreads more widely than the rest.

Brain Coral (Diplora strigosa)

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The unique Brain Coral which is an important coral reef builder is so called due to their generally spheroid shape and grooved surface which resembles an animal brain. It can be found in shallow water and has a lifespan of 200 years. Colonies can grow as large as 6 or more feet (1.8 m) high.

Mushroom Coral (Heliofungia actiniformis)

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Mushroom Corals are solitary marine creatures that often appear to be bleached or dead. Another peculiar trait of a Mushroom Coral is its ability to switch sex from male to female and back again.

Finger Coral (Porites compressa)

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This beautiful coral is called Finger Coral because it is characterized by a finger-like morphology. It has widely spaced calices, a well-developed wall reticulum and is bilaterally symmetrical.

Open Brain Coral (Trachyphyllia geoffroyi)

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The lovely-looking Open Brain Coral has a heavy conical base skeleton that is usually in the form of a pinched oval when viewed from the top. There are usually 2 or 3 large polyps which are red or green in color. 

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The red forms are usually from lower light environments than the green forms.  Tentacles are extended around the mouth during evening and night time.

Pulsating Xenid (Heteroxenia fuscescens)

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This is not a bouquet of flowers. This is the Pulsating xenid, a soft coral with large, feathery pinnate tentacles forming a clump up to 60cm across. It’s unique due to its polyp stalks that pulsate rhythmically around 40 times/minute. Scientists don’t know why it pulsates.

Bamboo Coral (Isidella tentaculum)

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Bamboo Coral is a new and rare species that can be found in the Gulf of Alaska. It is a commonly recognized inhabitant of the deep sea, due to the clearly articulated skeletons of the species. Some specimens of Bamboo Coral have been discovered that are 4,000 years old.

Soft Coral Peach (Alcyonacea)

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The pretty Soft Coral do not produce calcium carbonate skeletons and so are neither reef-building corals nor do they lay new foundations for future corals. Instead they contain minute, spiny skeletal elements called sclerites.

Acanthastrea lordhowensis

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This beautiful coral is one of the many prized possessions of reef aquarists. It is a large polyp stony corals originally imported from Australia. This photo was taken under the actinic lighting cycle which essentially tries to replicate a sunrise or sunset. 

Pineapple Coral (Acanthastrea echinata)

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Pineapple Coral is a coral that is frequently used in aquariums. Colonies which are colorful are massive and have a thick fleshy mantle. The most common colors include red, purple and green. Other common names of this coral are Artichoke Coral, Starry Cup Coral and Favia.

Solitary Coral (Heliofungia actiniformis)

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This peculiar species of coral is often mistaken to a Sea Anemone due to its striking similarity to the said marine animal.

Great Star Coral (Montastraea cavernosa)

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The Great Star Coral that forms into a huge boulder is usually found in the Caribbean Seas. This colonial stony coral has polyps that are the size of a person’s thumb and extend fully at night.

Organ Pipe Coral (Tubipora musica)

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The plankton-eater Organ Pipe Coral of Indo-Pacific region is a soft coral but with a unique, hard skeleton of calcium carbonate that contains many organ pipe-like tubes. On each tube is a series of polyps which each have eight feather-like tentacles. It is restricted to shallow waters and tend to live in sheltered areas.

Table Coral (Acropora latistella)

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Table Corals are important in the coral reef formation and are distinguished from having six or fewer lines of symmetry in their body structure and only single rows of tentacles.

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These organisms are formed of individual soft polyps which in some live in colonies and can secrete a calcite skeleton.

Larger Coral Star (Favites flexuosa)

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This hard and beautiful coral which is formally named Favites flexuosa extends its polyps at night to feed.

Stony Coral (Scleractinia)

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Stony Corals are exclusively marine animals that are very similar to Sea Anemones but generate a hard skeleton. Fossils that were discovered indicate that they first appeared in the Middle Triassic and replaced tabulate and rugose corals that went extinct at the end of the Permian.

Disc Coral (Fungia scutaria)

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Disc Coral which is also known informally as Solitary Coral or Plate Coral are solitary animals capable of benthic locomotion. It remains fully detached from the substrate in adulthood. Like the Mushroom Coral, it is also able to switch sex from male to female and back again.

Acropora pulchra

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This wonderfully beautiful and unique coral may grow as plates or slender or broad branches. The polyps usually extend further at night as they capture zooplankton from the water.

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It is commonly found in shallow reef environments with bright light and moderate to high water motion. Many small reef fishes live near acropora colonies and retreat into the thicket of branches if threatened.

Boomerang Mushroom Coral (Herpolitha limax)

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This photo of Herpolitha limax is taken in Micronesia. This species of coral can appear bleached and also resemble a sea cucumber.

Staghorn Coral (Acropora cervicornis)

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The Staghorn Coral, a branching coral with cylindrical branches, has branches that range from a few centimeters to over two meters in length and height. It can be found in back reef and fore reef environments from 0 to 30 m depth.

Pillar Coral (Dendrogyra cylindricus)

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Pillar Corals are hard coral that live in the Atlantic resemble fingers, or a cluster of cigars, growing up from the sea floor but without any secondary branching. This species grows up to 2.5 meters or 8 feet tall. This coral usually feed during daytime.

Elkhorn Coral (Acropora palmata)

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The uniquely shaped and structurally complex Elkhorn Coral is considered as one of the most important reef-building corals in the Caribbean. Despite its name, the coral structure more closely resembles that of moose antlers, as opposed to elk horns. Elkhorn Coral colonies are incredibly fast growing with an average growth rate of 5-10 cm per year and can eventually grow up to 12 feet in diameter.

Cup Coral (Leptopsammia pruvoti)

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The pretty Cup Coral is a non-reef building species that inhabit shaded vertical surface and caverns down to great depths.  It relies upon capturing zooplankton as food and extends beautiful translucent tentacles at night.  This lovely-looking coral is found in very cold water throughout the world. Other informal names of this coral include Velvet Chalice Coral, Pagoda Coral and Hard Cup Coral.

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