The Weymouth Carpet Coral is a rare rock-looking sea creature that is mainly found in the south-west coastal waters of England. It has the name ‘Weymouth’ because in was first described in Weymouth in Dorset in 1860. It lives with other Weymouth Carpet Corals to form a colony, unlike the Devonshire Cup Coral which likes to live solitary.

The Weymouth Carpet Coral is made up of a tiny organism called a ‘polyp’. The polyp has a mouth surrounded by lots of tentacles and is normally a light brown colour. It is surrounded by a white hard skeleton mainly made up of calcium carbonate. The skeleton protects the polyp and the sensitive tentacles which have stinging cells called ‘nematocysts’. The Weymouth Carpet Coral uses its tentacles and nematocysts when it wants to feed. This coral likes to feed at night.

The Weymouth Carpet Coral forms clusters of colonies which are approximately five centimetres in diameter. The coral clusters are very rarely seen because they are often attached to stones in dark crevices or at the back of underwater caves as deep as twenty five metres.