1. Black corals aren’t black
Black corals are yellow, red, green – anything but black. Their skeleton, though, is black, and has been extensively used for jewellery.
2. Black corals live in very deep water – over 8600 m down
There are many species of black coral, and most live in water deeper than 50 m (down to a staggering 8600 m). The whip corals though are shallower and in reach of divers in the indo-pacific. There are also branched black corals in the Mediterranean, particularly Italy, which are around the 50 m mark.
3. Black corals have been over-harvested
The shallower black corals have been overharvested around the world and all are now on the Cites Appendix II in which trade must be controlled.
4. One of the fastest growing corals in the sea
Yellow wire coral (Cirrhipathes anguina) grows 13.25 cm a month, making it one of the fastest growing corals of all.
5. Home to many other creatures
The whip corals host many symbiotic species, which spend their adult life with their black coral host and use it to access food. The small fish, shrimps, crabs and so on feed from the water passing over the black corals; the same conditions suit both creature and coral.
6. Prefer fast moving water
Black corals like fast moving water. The current brings the plankton upon which they feed. Unlike many corals found in shallow water, they don’t have photosynthesising zooxanthellae in their tissues and get all their nutrition from filter-feeding.
7. Cure all
The black corals all belong to the Antipatharia order, meaning literarily “against suffering”. In ancient Greece, black coral powder was applied to wounds before and after cranial surgery. It was also used around the Red Sea to cure eye diseases and in Chinese traditional medicine, to relieve pain, reduce fever and stop bleeding. In recent times black coral extract has been investigated as a potential anti-cancer drug against stomach cancer.
8. Black corals take many shapes
From the long whips, to coils, to fans, to trees, black coral has many guises.
References
We don’t use AI, or just cobble together a list taken from other web pages, we go to the original scientific research and where possible use original photos
Godefroid M. et al (2021), Perspectives on working underwater with black coral nubbins (Cnidaria: antipatharia): The case of Cirrhipathes anguina (Dana, 1846), Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, Vol 545, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2021.151645.
Terrana, L. et al (2019). Assessing trophic relationships between shallow-water black corals (Antipatharia) and their symbionts using stable isotopes. Belgian Journal of Zoology, 149. https://doi.org/10.26496/bjz.2019.33
Bo M, et al. Growth strategies of whip black corals (Cnidaria: Antipatharia) in the Bunaken Marine Park (Celebes Sea, Indonesia). Marine Biodiversity Records. 2009;2:e54. doi:10.1017/S1755267209000712
Qi, Shu et al. (2009). Alkaloids from the South China Sea Black Coral Antipathes dichotoma. Chemical & pharmaceutical bulletin. 57. 87-8. 10.1248/cpb.57.87.
Daniel Wagner et al. Chapter Two – The Biology and Ecology of Black Corals (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Hexacorallia: Antipatharia), Advances in Marine Biology, Academic Press, Vol 63, 2012, Pages 67-132,
Article first published 28 September 2025. Read the conditions to re-use our content.
