Capnella sp.
A genus of Indo-Pacific soft corals, with about twenty accepted species. 1 2 It hosts symbiotic algae and has recently been moved from the family Nephtheidae to the new family Capnellidae. 1 2 3 This species sheet describes the genus: data for one species do not necessarily apply to the others.
At a glance
Data from the scientific sources listed at the bottom.
Conservation
IUCN Red List: not evaluated.
The coral
Growth form: arborescent or bushy
Zooxanthellae: yes
Where it lives
Only the Indo-Pacific, according to a 2024 review, with samples from South Africa, Madagascar, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Xisha Islands, the Great Barrier Reef and Tasmania. 2 In a large genetic study it was not sampled in the Red Sea, nor in the four easternmost provinces, that is Hawaii and the islands of the central Pacific. 3
Life in the wild
Reproduction
The few species of the group that have been studied brood their larvae inside or on the surface of the colony. 3 In C. gaboensis, in Sydney, the gonads develop in the warm months and spawning takes place between late autumn and early winter. 4 The larvae stay on the bottom and become polyps about a week after settling. 4 New individuals arise mainly from larvae; asexually, only from the division of large colonies. 5
In the aquarium
From the experience of the BallingMania community.
It is an anthozoan in the order Alcyonacea, in the family Nephtheidae. Place of origin: the Indo-Pacific Ocean and the Red Sea, but generally speaking it is found in all tropical and subtropical seas. Colouring: the stalk is cream to brown, or a shade of green. The polyp colours range from brown to green. It tends to grow on the deeper slopes of the coral reef at depths of about six to eight metres, where the water is clear with stronger currents. In the wild colonies are seen that often exceed sixty centimetres in size, covering large expanses and colonising stony coral substrates.
Completely lacking a skeletal support, it has a thin, elongated body, called the column, made of two layers of cells: the outer layer is called the ectoderm and the inner one the endoderm; they enclose a sort of internal cavity, connected to the outside by a small stoma and divided into eight radial chambers, which carry out the digestive function and catch microscopic food particles from the water column; they can absorb dissolved organic matter and have a symbiotic relationship with zooxanthellae, from which they receive part of their nutrients. Very hardy for an invertebrate; it likes good indirect lighting and vigorous water movement, and if placed in large aquariums with stable values it proves very long-lived. It can tolerate slight variations in the main values (nitrate up to 30 mg/l). Suitable for the reef aquarium together with other invertebrates and small or medium-sized fish, preferably Amphiprion, Acanthurids and Pomacentrids. It is vulnerable to attack by pests, nudibranchs and worms. An easy coral to keep, advisable even for not very experienced aquarists.
Species sheet by Massimo Ramognino and photo by Federico D'Angelo
Did you know?
Sources
- McFadden C.S., Cordeiro R., Samimi-Namin K., Hoeksema B.W., Williams G., van Ofwegen L.P. (2026). Capnella Gray, 1869. World List of Octocorallia, via WoRMS.
- Liu C.-Q., Yang Q.-B., Zhang L., Liang L.-F. (2024). An overview of secondary metabolites from soft corals of the genus Capnella over the five decades. Marine Drugs.
- McFadden C.S., Erickson K.L., Lane A. et al. (2025). Biodiversity and biogeography of zooxanthellate soft corals across the Indo-Pacific. Scientific Reports.
- Farrant P.A. (1986). Gonad development and the planulae of the temperate Australian soft coral Capnella gaboensis. Marine Biology.
- Farrant P.A. (1987). Population dynamics of the temperate Australian soft coral Capnella gaboensis. Marine Biology.
- Madin J. et al. (eds.) (2026). Capnella gaboensis. Coral Trait Database.
- Madin J. et al. (eds.) (2026). Capnella lacertiliensis. Coral Trait Database.
- Goulet T.L., Simmons C., Goulet D. (2008). Worldwide biogeography of Symbiodinium in tropical octocorals. Marine Ecology Progress Series, reference in the Coral Trait Database.
- McFadden C.S., van Ofwegen L.P., Quattrini A.M. (2022). Revisionary systematics of Octocorallia (Cnidaria: Anthozoa) guided by phylogenomics. Bulletin of the Society of Systematic Biologists, reference in the Coral Trait Database.
Sources checked on 5 November 2026. Community texts and ratings are kept separate from the scientific data.
