AMERICA

Binomial nomenclature:

Pink Nephthya

Common name:

Soft coral

Color:

Under water this coral can appear blue-gray. And some of them are actually light pink or bright pink, almost purple when lit correctly.

Location:

Pacific Ocean

Features:

Pink Nephthya is a bushy, compact and branched soft coral. It has small calcium spikes to support it called 'sclerites', and in this species they are small and low, with high density. Sclerites do not protrude beyond the polyp when closed, which gives it a very rough but not prickly appearance, like very fine-grained sandpaper.

Pink Nephthya lives in the shallow, murky coastal reefs of the Great Barrier Reef within exposed lagoons, at points that receive a high tidal flow. We usually find it in very exposed and fairly turbid waters, usually above 45 feet (15 m) of water. He prefers a place where he will receive a constant flow, which will bring all the necessary food. So they usually protrude from the reef, on top of other corals or on their side. They also colonize parts of canals, reef crevices, where flow and food concentrate and flow through.