Cirrhipathes

Cirrhipathes is a genus of black coral from the family Antipathidae. Coral species in this genus are commonly known as whip or wire corals because they often exhibit a twisted or coiled morphology. In addition to their colorful appearance, with colors ranging from yellow to red passing through blue and green, these species possess a dark skeleton that is characteristic to every black coral.

==Distribution== Commonly found in tropical and subtropical areas, these corals are part of the reefs in the Indian and Pacific oceans, sometimes as shallow as but often at depths greater than . Long and unbranched, Cirrhipathes species are attached to coral reefs.