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Crypthelia lace coral (no English common name)
Crypthelia clausa
Valid name (WoRMS, AphiaID 285775, checked 2026-10-31).
- English
- Crypthelia lace coral (no English common name)
- Scientific
- Crypthelia clausa
- Dhivehi
- No recorded Dhivehi name
- Depth and habitat
- Sea floor (benthic)
- IUCN status
- NE · Not EvaluatedNot Evaluated (NE)CITES Appendix II
Description
A deep-water lace coral (a hydrocoral, not a true stony coral) that forms small, delicate, fan-like branching colonies. Each opening on the skeleton is partly covered by a small lid. It lives well below diving depth. In the Maldives it is known from specimens and literature records from deep water, below normal diving depth. It is told apart from related species only by close examination of the skeleton.
In the Maldives
Recorded from the Maldives: museum specimens (n=2); SeaLifeBase Maldives checklist.
Sources
- sealifebase.se /summary/Crypthelia-clausa.html
- marinespecies.org /aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=285775
Dhivehi name source: No species-level Dhivehi name found in Dhivehi Wikipedia, SeaLifeBase (country: Maldives) or MRS/MMRI invertebrate publications.