Spiraled whip coral

Cirrhipathes spiralis

Corals and anemones
IUCN: Not evaluated

Usual depth58–431 m
Water temperature19–29 °C
Best monthsDecember
How commonRare

All species

Photo credit: (c) Georgina Jones, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

Loading the map

Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 5 records
February: 2 records
March: 5 records
April: 1 records
May: 6 records
June: 9 records
July: 7 records
August: 1 records
September: 5 records
October: 8 records
November: 11 records
December: 22 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 58–431 m · Deepest record: 2,075 m

10–20 m: 3 records
20–30 m: 0 records
30–40 m: 1 records
40–50 m: 0 records
50–60 m: 3 records
60–70 m: 7 records
70–80 m: 8 records
80–90 m: 6 records
90–100 m: 3 records
100–110 m: 3 records
110–120 m: 0 records
120+ m: 33 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 19–29 °C

18–20 °C: 3 records
20–22 °C: 13 records
22–24 °C: 16 records
24–26 °C: 19 records
26–28 °C: 24 records
28–30 °C: 8 records

Names and classification

English: Spiraled whip coral, spiraled whip coral, Spiral Wire Coral

Names in 5 more languages

German: Spiralen-Dörnchenkoralle, Spiralige Drahtkoralle
French: Corail spiralé blanc
Japanese: ネジレカラマツ
Korean: 나선실해송
Thai: ปะการังสีดำ

Other scientific names: Antipathes (Cirripathes) spiralis, Antipathes spiralis, Cirripathes spiralis, Eucirripathes spiralis, Gorgonia spiralis

Similar species

Coiled wire coral
Cirrhipathes anguina
Cirrhipathes propinqua

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
143 open-data records from 1879 to 2012.
Species data updated November 1, 2026.

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