---
title: "Knotted Fan Coral"
description: "Melithaea ochracea — Andere dieren. Melithaea ochracea is a species of colonial soft coral in the family Melithaeidae, commonly known as knotted fan coral."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/nl/animal/knotted-fan-coral
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Knotted Fan Coral

> Melithaea ochracea — Andere dieren. Melithaea ochracea is a species of colonial soft coral in the family Melithaeidae, commonly known as knotted fan coral.

- Scientific name: *Melithaea ochracea*
- Category: `other` (Andere dieren)
- Habitats: `sea` (Zee en kust)
- iNaturalist observations: 1235
- Wikidata: [Q2690404](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2690404)
- iNaturalist taxon: [604330](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/604330)

## Names

- en: Knotted Fan Coral
- fr: Gorgone noueuse

## Countries with the most observations

ID (84), NC (84), PH (38), FJ (33), AU (23), PW (12), TH (12), MM (8), TW (7), SB (5), MY (4), VU (3)

## Summary

Melithaea ochracea is a species of colonial soft coral in the family Melithaeidae, commonly known as knotted fan coral. It grows in tree-like fans on coral reefs in the South China Sea. It grows in tree-like fans on coral reefs in the South China Sea and is used in the jewelry industry under the name red spongy coral.

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melithaea_ochracea

## Photo

![Knotted Fan Coral](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/knotted-fan-coral/medium.jpg)

Photo: Jean-Paul Boerekamps · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/142005318

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/knotted-fan-coral?lang=nl` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).