Antipathes Black Coral Care Guide
Antipathes is a deep-water, non-photosynthetic black coral with a protein-chitin skeleton; CITES-protected, very slow growing and rare in trade.
Compiled by Aquairi from published sources · Published · Updated
Overview
Antipathes is a genus of black coral in the order Antipatharia. Black corals are non-photosynthetic (azooxanthellate): they contain no symbiotic algae and feed by capturing zooplankton and meiofauna. The genus is named for the characteristically dark, protein-and-chitin skeleton, while the living polyps may be brightly coloured. It is a rare, expert-only aquarium subject.
Taxonomy
- Order: Antipatharia (Milne Edwards, 1857)
- Family: Antipathidae
- Genus: Antipathes
- Scientific name: Antipathes sp.
- Common name: Black Coral
Habitat
Black corals occur throughout all oceans from the surface to the deep sea, but nearly 75% of species are found only below 50 m. The genus is associated with deepwater Indo-Pacific reefs. Its skeleton is built from protein and chitin rather than calcium carbonate, distinguishing it from stony corals.
Tank requirements
- Salinity: 1.024–1.026 SG
- Temperature: 22–25 °C (72–77 °F)
- pH: 8.1–8.4
- dKH (alkalinity): 8–11
- Calcium: 400–450 ppm
- Magnesium: 1280–1350 ppm
- Nitrate: below 20 ppm; phosphate below 0.15 ppm
- Lighting: low (0–50 PAR); not light-dependent
- Flow: medium to high
- Minimum tank age: about 1 year
Feeding
Because it is non-photosynthetic, Antipathes depends entirely on feeding. It requires regular spot-feeding with planktonic foods such as phytoplankton, supplemented with amino acids. Heavy feeding raises dissolved nutrients, so strong filtration and stable, mature water are needed.
Growth and conservation
Growth is extremely slow; field colonies grow on the order of a few centimetres per year, and large specimens can be many decades old. Black corals are listed in Appendix II of CITES, restricting their international trade, and they are rarely available to aquarists.
Compatibility
Antipathes is passive and lacks aggressive stinging tentacles, and is regarded as reef-, shrimp- and fish-safe. Its difficulty lies in feeding and water quality rather than aggression.
Antipathes (Black Coral): Propagation Guide
Overview
Black corals form the order Antipatharia within the class Hexacorallia, comprising about 7 families, 44 genera and roughly 280 species. They possess jet-black or dark-brown chitin skeletons surrounded by coloured polyps; the skeletons carry microscopic spines and grow as whips, trees, fans or coils ranging from about 10 to 300 cm. They occur throughout all oceans from the surface to the deep sea, though nearly 75% live below 50 m.
Black corals are azooxanthellate: they lack symbiotic zooxanthellae and cannot photosynthesise, depending entirely on heterotrophic feeding. They are carnivorous, feeding mostly on meiofauna such as zooplankton captured with stinging tentacles from passing currents.
Reproductive Mode
Black corals employ both sexual and asexual strategies in the wild. Colonies reproduce sexually only after 10 to 12 years of growth, and thereafter produce offspring annually. This very late maturity, combined with their slow growth, makes their reproduction a long-term ecological process rather than anything achievable on aquarium timescales.
Fragging / Asexual Propagation
Growth is remarkably slow, on the order of 6.4 cm per year, and some related black corals (Leiopathes glaberrima) reach ages of roughly 4,265 years, among the oldest organisms on Earth. There is no whitelisted source describing successful aquarium fragmentation of Antipathes. Given the slow growth, deep-water requirements and protected status, this coral is not propagated in home systems.
Common Challenges
Beyond feeding and depth, black corals are listed in Appendix II of CITES, reflecting concern over poaching and climate change. Their late maturity and century-to-millennium lifespans mean that removing wild colonies is ecologically costly, and there is no demonstrated path to replacing them through captive propagation.