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Rhipidipathes reticulata Black coral

Rhipidipathes reticulata is commonly referred to as Black coral. Difficulty in the aquarium: Experts only! Very hard to keep. Toxicity: Toxic hazard unknown.


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Rhipidipathes reticulata, Fausse passe de l'îlot Verte - Bourail 2025


Courtesy of the author Bas Johan Bas Johan. Please visit www.inaturalist.org for more information.

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lexID:
12189 
AphiaID:
290969 
Scientific:
Rhipidipathes reticulata 
German:
Schwarze Koralle 
English:
Black Coral 
Category:
Sea Fans 
Family tree:
Animalia (Kingdom) > Cnidaria (Phylum) > Anthozoa (Class) > Antipatharia (Order) > Aphanipathidae (Family) > Rhipidipathes (Genus) > reticulata (Species) 
Initial determination:
(Esper, ), 1795 
Occurrence:
Bunaken, Caroline Island, Central Pazific, Indian Ocean, Indonesia, Japan, Lesser Sunda Islands, Micronesia, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Okinawa, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Sulawesi, The Ryukyu Islands, Togean Islands 
Sea depth:
20 - 30 Meter 
Habitats:
Seawater, Sea water 
Size:
up to 7.87" (20 cm) 
Temperature:
°F - 78.8 °F (°C - 26°C) 
Food:
Amphipods, azooxanthellat, nonphotosynthetic, Copepods, Coral spawn, Fish eggs, Invertebrates, Phytoplankton, Suspension feeder, Zooplankton 
Difficulty:
Experts only! Very hard to keep 
Offspring:
Not available as offspring 
Toxicity:
Toxic hazard unknown 
CITES:
Appendix II ((commercial trade possible after a safety assessment by the exporting country)) 
Red List:
Not evaluated (NE) 
More related species
in this lexicon:
 
Author:
Publisher:
Meerwasser-Lexikon.de
Created:
Last edit:
2026-01-03 12:59:49 

Info

Rhipidipathes reticulata (Esper, 1795)

Recommendation - the coral should be kept in a species-specific tank.

Feeding
The majority of gorgonians do not have zooxanthellae and do not live off light. Azooxanthellate gorgonians do not host symbiotic algae that produce nutrients and energy through photosynthesis.

The pumps should be switched off before feeding. In order for the gorgonian to survive in the aquarium, each individual polyp must be fed sufficiently, i.e. daily or 3-4 times a week. Without feeding, the gorgonian will not survive in the aquarium. The polyps need a certain amount of time to absorb the food (granules or dust food (Ultramarin, Cyclop Eeze) or frozen food (lobster eggs, mysis)). If shrimp and fish are present, they will try to steal the food, so it is essential to feed these cohabitants beforehand.

Newly introduced gorgonian sticks can be stimulated with a liquid food, e.g., PolypLab Polyp, to encourage the individual polyps to open. Only then can feeding be carried out.

The better the individual polyps take up the food provided, the better the growth and reproduction rates will be.

Azooxanthellate corals eat suspensions, marine snow, microplankton, and other organic matter, which is their natural food.

Synonymised names
Antipathella reticulata (Esper, 1795) · unaccepted > superseded combination
Antipathes reticulata Esper, 1795 · unaccepted > superseded combination ( new combination)

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