---
title: Corallimorpharia (Corallimorpharia)
scientific_name: Corallimorpharia
common_name: Corallimorpharia
rank: Order
published: 2024-11-19T18:41:51.573Z
updated: 2026-08-03T21:32:47.048Z
tags: Corallimorpharia, Corallimorpharia, Red Sea, Marine Life, Diving
url: https://redseacreatures.com/taxon/invertebrate/stinging/corallimorpharia
---

# Corallimorpharia (*Corallimorpharia*)

## Quick facts

- **Rank:** Order
- **Scientific name:** Corallimorpharia
- **Body shape:** Invertebrate - Not a fish - coral, mollusc, crustacean, echinoderm and other invertebrate groups.
- **Species listed here:** 4

## How to recognise this group

- broad, flat oral disc
- oral disc often wider than its column
- disc fringed with short, radiating tentacles
- solitary or dense, carpet-like aggregations
- attached to hard substrates or rubble

Corallimorpharians are marine cnidarians related to stony corals, though they lack a stony skeleton. These polyps typically have a broad, flat oral disc, often wider than their column, fringed with short, radiating tentacles. Oral discs range from 1 cm (0.4 in) to over 30 cm (12 in) in diameter. Their colouration varies widely, from drab browns and greens to bright reds, blues, and purples, sometimes with iridescent qualities.

They occur across a wide range of habitats, from shallow reef crests and lagoons to deeper reef slopes, attaching to hard substrates, rubble, or dead coral. These polyps live at depths typically between 1-50 m (3-165 ft). Corallimorpharians are opportunistic predators, capturing zooplankton and small invertebrates. They can be found as solitary individuals or forming dense, carpet-like aggregations that overgrow significant reef areas, occasionally contributing to shifts from hard coral to soft coral dominance. Divers commonly encounter them on many reefs.


## Species (4)

- [Ball-tipped Corallimorph (Corynactis globulifera)](https://redseacreatures.com/taxon/invertebrate/stinging/corallimorpharia/ball-tipped-corallimorph)
- [Coin Mushroom Coral (Discosoma nummiforme)](https://redseacreatures.com/taxon/invertebrate/stinging/corallimorpharia/coin-mushroom-coral)
- [Hairy Mushroom Coral (Rhodactis rhodostoma)](https://redseacreatures.com/taxon/invertebrate/stinging/corallimorpharia/hairy-mushroom-coral)
- [White Mushroom Coral (Discosoma album)](https://redseacreatures.com/taxon/invertebrate/stinging/corallimorpharia/white-mushroom-coral)

---

*Source: [Red Sea Creatures](https://redseacreatures.com/taxon/invertebrate/stinging/corallimorpharia)*
*Updated: August 3, 2026*