About Stylaster nobilis (Saville Kent, 1871)
Stylaster nobilis, commonly called noble coral, is pink or orange with a tree-like structure, and the tips of its colony branches are paler than the rest. Its rigid calcareous colonies can reach over 25 cm in total height, while individual polyps have a diameter of 0.1 cm. This species has no free medusa stage. Polyps project out from star-shaped cavities located in the calcareous skeleton. Growth takes place at branch tips and on the outer surface of the colony, which gradually thickens and can show concentric rings when cut in cross-section. This colonial animal is endemic to the South African coast, found only between the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula and Port Elizabeth, at depths of 5 to 100 meters. Noble corals feed on plankton and resemble hard corals. They live in cool temperate waters, most often in caves and beneath overhangs. Their growth rate is very slow, and large colonies may be over 100 years old. A permit is required to collect this species.
