black coral

noun

Any of various tropical corals of the family Antipathidae.

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Meanings

nounblack coral (plural black corals)

plural black corals

  1. Any of various tropical corals of the family Antipathidae.

Origin

From the black colouration of their skeletons of the corals, made of chitin; unlike shallow-water corals which use calcium carbonate to build white skeletons, evident during coral bleaching events which reveal the colour of the skeletons, due to the transparent corals expelling their colourful algae symbionts.

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Cite this entry
APA

black coral. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/black%20coral

MLA

“black coral.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/black%20coral. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “black coral,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/black%20coral.

Source: black coral on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.