Red Coral

Photo: Sylvain Le Bris · CC BY-NC

Protected red coral grows on the shadowed overhangs and cave ceilings of the Porto Katsiki cliff face, forming slow-growing colonies that take decades to reach visible size. This species has been heavily exploited historically for jewellery, making intact colonies like those here ecologically significant. Red coral provides structural habitat for a range of small invertebrates and fish that shelter within its branching skeleton.