Maldives Marine Life

Marine life of Maldivian waters

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Lobed leather corals
No photo available
Photo: No machine-readable author provided. Haplochromis assumed (based on copyright claims). / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain (view on Wikimedia Commons)Coral photo: species not verifiable from image.

Lobed leather corals

Lobophytum

Genus-level entry: species are told apart only by microscopic features (sclerites). Valid genus (WoRMS, AphiaID 206153, checked 2026-10-31). Species recorded from the Maldives: Lobophytum crassum, Lobophytum densum, Lobophytum pauciflorum, Lobophytum sarcophytoides.

English
Lobed leather corals
Scientific
Lobophytum
Dhivehi
No recorded Dhivehi name
Group
Soft corals and sea fans
Family
Sarcophytidae (leather corals)
IUCN status
NE · Not EvaluatedNot Evaluated (NE) as a genus; most species not assessed

Description

Lobed leather corals are firm, leathery soft corals with a low base that rises into ridges, lobes or finger-like knobs. Colonies are usually brown, cream or green, and the polyps give the surface a fuzzy look when open. They grow on reef flats and shallow slopes, sometimes covering large areas. Species are told apart only by their microscopic sclerites.

In the Maldives

Recorded from the Maldives: museum specimens (n=4); iNaturalist research-grade observations at species level (n=1); literature records via OBIS.

Sources

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