Maldives Marine Life

Marine life of Maldivian waters

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Crypthelia lace coral (no English common name)

Crypthelia stenopoma

Valid name (WoRMS, AphiaID 285797, checked 2026-10-31).

English
Crypthelia lace coral (no English common name)
Scientific
Crypthelia stenopoma
Dhivehi
No recorded Dhivehi name
Group
Fire, lace and blue corals
Family
Stylasteridae (lace corals)
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=3); SeaLifeBase Maldives checklist.

Sources

Dhivehi name source: No species-level Dhivehi name found in Dhivehi Wikipedia, SeaLifeBase (country: Maldives) or MRS/MMRI invertebrate publications.