DiscoverSpeciesCorals and anemones
Ghost coral
Cladiella australis
- Usual depth10–29 m
- Water temperature25–29 °C
- Best monthsOctober
- How commonRare
About this species
Cladiella australis is a species of soft coral in the family Cladiellidae. It is found in the western Indo-Pacific. It is commonly known as the finger blanching soft coral because with the polyps extended it appears brown but when poked with a finger, the polyps retract into the leathery base tissue and the coral appears white.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Cladiella australis”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article
Where and when
Where it has been recorded
Worldwide
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Best months
Worldwide (open data)
- January: 0 records
- February: 0 records
- March: 0 records
- April: 0 records
- May: 1 records
- June: 0 records
- July: 1 records
- August: 0 records
- September: 0 records
- October: 2 records
- November: 1 records
- December: 1 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 10–29 m · Deepest record: 30.5 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 25–29 °C
Names and classification
- English
- Ghost coral, ghost coral
Names in 1 more languages
- Japanese
- コブエダノウトサカ, センジュノウトサカ
Other scientific names: Alcyonium australe, Lobularia australis
Similar species
- Blanching Soft-Coral
Cladiella kashmani
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.
- Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
- Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
- 189 open-data records from 1936 to 2018.
- Species data updated November 1, 2026.
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