Carnation tree corals
Dendronephthya
Genus-level entry: species are told apart only by microscopic features (sclerites). Valid genus (WoRMS, AphiaID 206503, checked 2026-10-31). Species recorded from the Maldives: Dendronephthya involuta, Dendronephthya macrospina, Dendronephthya mucronata, Dendronephthya rigida, Dendronephthya rubra, Dendronephthya spinifera, Dendronephthya tenera.
Possibly present in the Maldives
- English
- Carnation tree corals
- Scientific
- Dendronephthya
- Dhivehi
- No recorded Dhivehi name
- IUCN status
- NE · Not EvaluatedNot Evaluated (NE) as a genus; most species not assessed
- Record in the Maldives
- Possibly present
Description
Tree corals are soft corals that swell with water into translucent, prickly bushes, in shades of red, pink, orange, purple, yellow or white. They have no symbiotic algae and feed on plankton, so they are most common where currents are strong: channel walls, overhangs and reef edges. When the current stops, colonies deflate and shrink. Species can be told apart only by examining their microscopic sclerites.
In the Maldives
Recorded from the Maldives: museum specimens (n=10). Only one kind of evidence was found, so it is listed as possibly present.
Sources
- marinespecies.org /aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=206503
- commons.wikimedia.org /wiki/File:Soft2.jpg
Dhivehi name source: No species-level Dhivehi name found in Dhivehi Wikipedia, SeaLifeBase (country: Maldives) or MRS/MMRI invertebrate publications.