Hawaii Undersea Research Laboratory (HURL), Hawaii, USA
Info
A query for valid species in WoRMS on July 5, 2025, returns nine species of the genus Corallium:
Corallium japonicum Kishinouye, 1903
Corallium medea Bayer, 1964
Corallium nix Bayer, 1996
Corallium rubrum (Linnaeus, 1758)
Corallium salomonense (Thomson & Mackinnon, 1910)
Corallium sepultum Sismonda, 1847 †
Corallium stylasteroides Ridley, 1882
Corallium sulcatum Michelotti, 1871 †
Corallium tortuosum Bayer, 1956
Of these nine species, trade in exactly four (4) species will be regulated in 2025 by CITES, or the Washington Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, an international agreement to protect endangered animal and plant species from excessive exploitation through international trade, here through Appendix 3.
Which are the four Corallium species protected by CITES Appendix 3?
Corallium elatius (China)
Corallium japonicum (China)
Corallium konjoi (China)
Corallium secundum (China)
The classification in Appendix III means:
Appendix III contains all species designated by a Party as species for which exploitation should be prohibited or restricted to prevent their depletion, and for which cooperation by other Parties is required to control trade. For imports of animals of the same species from other countries, only a certificate of origin is required to prove the origin.
The remaining five species are completely unprotected, i.e., there are no CITES regulations!
Anyone interested in CITES and the species listed in the appendices can easily find information here: https://cites.org/eng/app/appendices.php
The deep-water coral Corallium tortuosum is one of the completely unprotected species, although both the US and the European Union voted to include all species in the CITES appendices.
If you are interested, you can also read the short report “Precious Corals and CITES” by Oceana, which we have saved under “Further links.”
Living corals can be seen on the HULR website, which can also be accessed via the Further Links section.
The living corals are orange in color, but unfortunately the two photos are blurry.
Synonym: Paracorallium tortuosum (Bayer, 1956) · unaccepted (changed combination)
Corallium japonicum Kishinouye, 1903
Corallium medea Bayer, 1964
Corallium nix Bayer, 1996
Corallium rubrum (Linnaeus, 1758)
Corallium salomonense (Thomson & Mackinnon, 1910)
Corallium sepultum Sismonda, 1847 †
Corallium stylasteroides Ridley, 1882
Corallium sulcatum Michelotti, 1871 †
Corallium tortuosum Bayer, 1956
Of these nine species, trade in exactly four (4) species will be regulated in 2025 by CITES, or the Washington Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, an international agreement to protect endangered animal and plant species from excessive exploitation through international trade, here through Appendix 3.
Which are the four Corallium species protected by CITES Appendix 3?
Corallium elatius (China)
Corallium japonicum (China)
Corallium konjoi (China)
Corallium secundum (China)
The classification in Appendix III means:
Appendix III contains all species designated by a Party as species for which exploitation should be prohibited or restricted to prevent their depletion, and for which cooperation by other Parties is required to control trade. For imports of animals of the same species from other countries, only a certificate of origin is required to prove the origin.
The remaining five species are completely unprotected, i.e., there are no CITES regulations!
Anyone interested in CITES and the species listed in the appendices can easily find information here: https://cites.org/eng/app/appendices.php
The deep-water coral Corallium tortuosum is one of the completely unprotected species, although both the US and the European Union voted to include all species in the CITES appendices.
If you are interested, you can also read the short report “Precious Corals and CITES” by Oceana, which we have saved under “Further links.”
Living corals can be seen on the HULR website, which can also be accessed via the Further Links section.
The living corals are orange in color, but unfortunately the two photos are blurry.
Synonym: Paracorallium tortuosum (Bayer, 1956) · unaccepted (changed combination)
