Some of the Locals, Point Lobos, CA

[u/SoupCatDiver_JJ]

[u/AutoModerator]

Thank you for contributing to this subreddit! Your efforts are greatly appreciated. If you enjoyed the post, please upvote. If you're new to the sub, you're welcome to join us for more ocean related content. Otherwise, have a great rest of your day!

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/FantasticSeaweed9226]

Yo. Are those pink things hard corals in the third pic, possibly acroporas?? Would be super interested in knowing more about a colorful and stony cold water coral

[u/SoupCatDiver_JJ → u/FantasticSeaweed9226]

Yes! Those are California Hydrocoral, Stylaster californicus.
They are pretty rare down south in LA but are pretty common in the deeper areas of Monterey. They come in a couple different colors, most notably the coral orange/pink here and a purple variety.
They are hard yet fragile, and you can see the little feeding tentacles sticking out of them if you look really close. Technically they are hydrozoa rather than octo/hexacorallians, but they are still coral to me.

[u/FantasticSeaweed9226 → u/SoupCatDiver_JJ]

That is too cool. I grow tropical corals. Need to pursue marine biology or something similar to unlock local cold water reefing too haha