- · 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.
- · Euplexaura crassa: Drawn using our own body-shape diagram where an open-licensed silhouette was unavailable.
- · Human silhouette: PhyloPic — NASA · Public Domain Mark 1.0
Euplexaura crassa
Euplexaura crassa (Euplexaura crassa · Euplexaura crassa)
Not Evaluated (NE) on the IUCN Red List yet.
🇰🇷 Class II endangered wildlife (Korea)
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 Its colony height of about 11.5 cm is just over half the short side of an A4 sheet of paper (21 cm).
- 💡 Because it is a protected coral that also lives off southern coastal cities such as Yeosu, Tongyeong, and Busan, changes in nearshore water temperature pose a threat (National Institute of Ecology).
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
Euplexaura crassa is a light-brown fan-shaped coral living at depths of 15–40 m off the southern coast and Jeju in Korea, where it is designated as an Endangered Wildlife Class II species.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
The colony is fan-shaped with bundles of thick branches; the polyps are yellowish brown, the axial skeleton is brown, and the main branches are 4–5 mm in diameter.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
It captures small plankton using venomous nematocysts; ecological information on its reproduction is scarce, and its slow growth rate is considered a vulnerability.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
As an Endangered Wildlife Class II species, it is distributed in the southern coastal waters of Yeosu, Tongyeong, and Busan as well as Jeju Island, and because it lives in warm-current zones, changes in water temperature are a threat factor.
📚 Sources & References
- • 멸종위기 야생생물 Ⅱ급 — 국가생물종목록(국립생물자원관) ktsn 120000039736 — https://species.nibr.go.kr/home/mainHome.do?cont_link=009&subMenu=009002&contCd=009002&ktsn=120000039736
- • 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 120000039736 — https://species.nibr.go.kr/home/mainHome.do?cont_link=009&subMenu=009002&contCd=009002&ktsn=120000039736
- • wikidata.org — Q2704487
- • nie.re.kr — view.do
- • nie.re.kr — list.do
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.