Colourful healthy hard and soft coral reef with long nosed butterflyfish (Forcipiger flavissimus), Matangi Island, Vanua Levu, Fiji, Pacific

Longnose butterflyfish (Forcipiger flavissimus), adapted to feed in crevices in the reef and snips off soft pieces of corals, Queensland, Australia, Pacific

Soft coral, Southern Thailand, Andaman Sea, Indian Ocean, Southeast Asia, Asia

Yellow Soft Coral, Dendronephthya klunzingeri, Osprey Reef, Coral Sea, Australia

Golden damselfish swimming in soft coral, Fiji

An underwater photographer swims past a large yellow gorgonian fan with a bed of red soft corals beneath it, Fiji.

Detail of soft, golden Sea Pen. UK.

Golden Coral (Dendrophyllid) soft coral. Borneo, Malaysia (A4 only).

Soft coral, Dendronephthya sp., Lapus Lapus Island marine park, Malapascua, Cebu, Philippines.

Pleurobranch sidegill slug, Berthella martensi, mantle detail, Puerto Galera, Mindoro, Philippines.

Fluted giant clam, Tridacna squamosa, siphon detail, Namu atoll, Marshall Islands (Pacific).

Reef wall covered with soft corals and gorgonians, mainly orange cup coral, Tubastrea faulkneri, Verde Island, Philippines.

Close-up of Orange Soft Coral and Yellow Soft Coral underwater, Sipadan, Malaysia

Close-up of golden soft coral underwater, Fiji

Micronesia, Yap, Soft Alcyonarian coral (Dendronephthya sp) illuminated in ocean.

Micronesia, Bright yellow crinoid (Comanthus bennetti), blue ocean background.

Indonesia, Banda Sea, Pipefish swims through soft coral.

Soft-coral Goby (Pleurosicya boldinghi) on a beautiful pink, orange and yellow alcyonium, Mayotte