---
title: Soft Corals (Alcyonacea)
scientific_name: Alcyonacea
common_name: Soft Corals
rank: Order
published: 2024-11-19T18:41:51.573Z
updated: 2026-08-03T21:32:47.023Z
tags: Soft Corals, Alcyonacea, Red Sea, Marine Life, Diving
url: https://redseacreatures.com/taxon/invertebrate/stinging/soft-corals
---

# Soft Corals (*Alcyonacea*)

## Quick facts

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

## How to recognise this group

- variable colony shapes: encrusting, lobed, branching, or whip-like
- fleshy, pliable, non-rigid colony structure
- colonies of polyps, each with eight feathery tentacles
- wide range of colours, from muted browns to vibrant pinks

Soft corals are colonial marine invertebrates with polyps possessing eight pinnate (feathery) tentacles. Lacking a rigid external calcium carbonate skeleton, their support comes from internal microscopic calcareous sclerites and hydrostatic pressure, resulting in a fleshy, pliable texture. Colonies display diverse forms, including encrusting mats, massive lobes, branching structures, or whip-like growth, often exceeding a meter in diameter or height. Individual polyps typically measure 1-5 mm across. Colors range from muted browns and greens to bright yellows, pinks, and purples. The order name, Alcyonacea, references the mythical Halcyon bird, believed to nest during periods of calm seas when these corals were thought to appear.

Soft corals thrive on reef slopes, walls, and sheltered areas, occurring from shallow waters down to 40 meters (130 ft). They feed by filtering zooplankton from water currents. Most species also host photosynthetic symbiotic algae (zooxanthellae) within their tissues, supplementing their diet. Many retract their polyps fully into the colony during daylight hours, extending them at night to feed. They are a common and prominent feature of Red Sea reefs.


## Species (4)

- [Broccoli Coral (Litophyton arboreum)](https://redseacreatures.com/taxon/invertebrate/stinging/soft-corals/broccoli-coral)
- [Dendronephthya Hemprichi (Dendronephthya hemprichi)](https://redseacreatures.com/taxon/invertebrate/stinging/soft-corals/dendronephthya-hemprichi)
- [Pulsating Xenid (Heteroxenia fuscescens)](https://redseacreatures.com/taxon/invertebrate/stinging/soft-corals/pulsating-xenid)
- [Sulphur Leather Coral (Rhytisma fulvum)](https://redseacreatures.com/taxon/invertebrate/stinging/soft-corals/sulphur-leather-coral)

---

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