Colonies of Lettuce Coral with Barrel Sponges

Drifts over sunlit coral reefs and along coral-encrusted walls, bustling with marine life. Corals look like plants or rocks but they are in fact animals, they don't make their own food, as plants do. Corals have tiny, tentacle-like arms that they use to capture food from the water and sweep into their mouths. A coral is not just one animal but a whole colony of animals. They are beacons of biodiversity that house over a quarter of all marine species and provide food and livelihoods to more than half a billion people worldwide. But these undersea havens now face existential threats from overfishing, coastal development, and heat stress such as coral bleaching brought on by climate change.
 
Extinction Risk: Decreasing to Vulnerable (Facing a high risk of extinction in the wild)
 
Cabbage Coral
Scientific Name: Turbinaria sp.
 
Table Coral
Scientific Name: Acropora sp.
 
Staghorn Coral
Scientific Name: Acropora muricata
 
Cauliflower Coral
Scientific Name: Pocillopora meandrina
 
Brain Coral
Scientific Name: Symphyllia sp.
 
Blue Coral
Scientific Name: Heliopora coerulea
 
Leathery Soft Coral
Scientific Name: Alcyoniidae family
 
Sea Fans
Scientific Name: Gorgoniidae family