Mediterranean pillow coral (Lat. Cladocora caespitosa). It is the only species of coral that builds reefs in the Adriatic Sea. It is found at depths from 1 to 80 m on rock and sand bottoms, at sites with stronger sea currents. The colonies can groves up to a size of over 1 m. The polyps are a clear maroon colour, around 5 mm in diameter and form cushion-shaped colonies, in symbiosis with Zooxanthella algae. They produce deposits of calcium carbonate which form the calciate structures in which they live. The colonies grow through budding, but the species spreads through the settlement of plankton-like larva on seabed suited to colonisation. It is classified as endangered under the IUCN Red List, mostly based on recent mass die-offs caused by heat wave events in the Mediterranean.