Ocular coral

Madrepora oculata

Corals and anemones
IUCN: Not evaluated

Usual depth349–1,044 m
Water temperature3–29 °C
Best monthsJuly and September
How commonCommon

About this species

Madrepora oculata, also called zigzag coral, is a stony coral that is found worldwide outside of the polar regions, growing in deep water at depths of 50 to at least 1500 meters. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. It is one of only 12 species of coral that are found worldwide, including in Subantarctic oceans. In some areas, such as in the Mediterranean Sea and the Northeast Atlantic Ocean, it dominates communities of coral. Due to their similar distribution and taxonomic relationship, M. oculata is often experimentally compared to related deep sea coral, Lophelia pertusa.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Madrepora oculata”, 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: 51 records
February: 58 records
March: 104 records
April: 193 records
May: 257 records
June: 192 records
July: 678 records
August: 185 records
September: 803 records
October: 474 records
November: 451 records
December: 49 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 349–1,044 m · Deepest record: 2,850 m

0–10 m: 46 records
10–20 m: 0 records
20–30 m: 3 records
30–40 m: 0 records
40–50 m: 0 records
50–60 m: 2 records
60–70 m: 3 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 3 records
90–100 m: 13 records
100–110 m: 3 records
110+ m: 4,707 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 3–29 °C

2–4 °C: 7 records
4–6 °C: 15 records
6–8 °C: 26 records
8–10 °C: 38 records
10–12 °C: 46 records
12–14 °C: 55 records
14–16 °C: 116 records
16–18 °C: 35 records
18–20 °C: 47 records
20–22 °C: 40 records
22–24 °C: 20 records
24–26 °C: 68 records
26–28 °C: 190 records
28–30 °C: 274 records

Names and classification

English: Ocular coral, White coral, ocular coral, white coral

Names in 1 more languages

German: Augenkoralle, Weiße Koralle

Other scientific names: Amphelia galapagensis, Amphelia oculata, Amphelia venusta, Amphihelia (Diplohelia) moresbyi, Amphihelia kauaiensis, Amphihelia moresbyi, Amphihelia oculata, Amphihelia tenuis, Amphihelia venusta, Cyathohelia formosa, Lophohelia candida, Lophohelia investigatoris, Lophohelia oculata, Lophohelia tenui, Lophohelia tenuis, Madrepora (Amphihelia) oculata, Madrepora alcocki, Madrepora candida, Madrepora formosa, Madrepora galapagensis, Madrepora investigatoris, Madrepora kauaiensis, Madrepora moresbyi, Madrepora oculate, Madrepora tenuis, Madrepora venusta, Madrepora vitiae, Matrepora oculata, Oculina oculata, Sclerhelia formosa

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).
5,994 open-data records from 1869 to 2025.

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