Blue ridge coral

Care at a glance

The blue ridge coral is remarkable as the only octocoral that builds a massive calcareous skeleton, and that skeleton is deep blue on the inside. From the outside you see none of it: the surface is covered with brownish polyps bearing eight tentacles.

It is robust and grows slowly but steadily under moderate light and moderate flow. It is also one of the oldest coral groups on Earth, with fossil relatives going back hundreds of millions of years.

Related species

• Bowerbanki coralHomophyllia bowerbanki
• Chili coral (non-photosynthetic)Nephthyigorgia sp.
• Carnation coral (non-photosynthetic)Dendronephthya sp.
• Meat coral (symphyllia)Symphyllia sp.
• Colt coralCladiella sp.
• Rhodactis mushroomRhodactis sp.