- · Grid units represent actual meters (m); human and animals are drawn to the exact same scale with original silhouette aspect ratios preserved.
- · When a size range is recorded (e.g. 1–1.6m), the lower bound is used for scale comparison.
- · Dendronephthya castanea silhouette: PhyloPic — author not recorded · CC0 1.0 (Dendronephthya)
- · Human silhouette: PhyloPic — NASA · Public Domain Mark 1.0
Dendronephthya castanea
Dendronephthya castanea (Dendronephthya castanea · Dendronephthya castanea)
Not Evaluated (NE) on the IUCN Red List yet.
🇰🇷 Class II endangered wildlife (Korea)
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 A colony height of about 2.4 cm is similar to the diameter of a Korean 500-won coin (26.5 mm) (Comparison).
- 💡 Although the National Institute of Ecology notes that its appearance closely resembles broccoli, its size is much smaller than a broccoli floret on a dinner table—about the size of a single coin (Comparison).
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
📖 1. Overview
Dendronephthya castanea is a small soft coral living in clusters with other soft corals at depths of 5–25 m in Jeju waters, and is designated as Class II endangered wildlife (Korea).
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
Its colony is about 2.3–2.4 cm tall with a somewhat flattened broccoli-like shape; the branch tips and polyp heads are orange, and the tentacles are red.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
It captures small plankton using venomous nematocysts and reproduces by budding or sexual reproduction depending on environmental conditions.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
Designated as Class II endangered wildlife (Korea), it is distributed in the waters off Jeju Island, where rising water temperatures, marine pollution, and careless underwater leisure activities are major threats.
📚 Sources & References
- • 멸종위기 야생생물 Ⅱ급 — 국가생물종목록(국립생물자원관) ktsn 120000039716 — https://species.nibr.go.kr/home/mainHome.do?cont_link=009&subMenu=009002&contCd=009002&ktsn=120000039716
- • IUCN Red List: not evaluated (NE) — cross-checked with the Wikidata conservation-status entry
- • Korean protection status: Class II endangered wildlife (Korea)
- • marinespecies.org — aphia.php
- • 국가생물종목록(국립생물자원관) ktsn 120000039716 — https://species.nibr.go.kr/home/mainHome.do?cont_link=009&subMenu=009002&contCd=009002&ktsn=120000039716
- • wikidata.org — Q2929980
- • nie.re.kr — view.do
- • nie.re.kr — list.do
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — author not recorded · CC0 1.0 (Congeneric silhouette — Dendronephthya)
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.