Alex Mustard / A stand of Pillar coral (Dendrogyra cylindrus) growing on a coral reef, East End, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands

Alex Mustard / View down on a pillar coral (Dendrogyra cylindrus) growing on a coral reef, with blue tangs. Jardines de la Reina, Gardens of the Queen National Park, Cuba. Caribbean Sea.

Doug Perrine / Plate and Pillar coral (Porites rus) and Cauliflower coral (Pocillopora meandrina) bleached by warm sea temperatures during 2015 El Nino event, Honaunau Bay, Kona, Hawaii, USA.

Alex Mustard / Herbivorous blue tang (Acanthurus coeruleus) swimming through the rigid branches of a pillar coral (Dendrogyra cylindrus) East End, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, British West Indies. Caribbean Sea.

Pete Oxford / French Grunt (Haemulon flavolineatum) on Pillar Coral (Dendrogyra cylindrus). Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve, Mahahual Peninsula, Quintana Roo South Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico.

Juergen Freund / Finger coral (Porites sp) growing from a coral pillar, Sipadan, Malaysia.

Juergen Freund / Soft coral (Dendronephthya sp) on a pillar of a jetty, North Raja Ampat, West Papua, Indonesia

Doug Perrine / Divers looking at Pillar coral {Dendrogyra cylindrus} Virgin Islands, Caribbean

Alex Mustard / Pillar coral (Dendrogyra cylindrus) killed by Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease over the period of a week in 2021. Before and after image taken a few years apart, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, Caribbean...

Doug Perrine / Bleached coral reef with dead Cauliflower coral (Pocillopora grandis) in middle of large Plate and pillar coral (Porites rus). Bleached by high ocean temperatures during El Nino event. Honaunau Bay, K...

Claudio Contreras / Tiger grouper (Mycteroperca tigris) in Pillar Coral (Dendrogyra cylindrus), Jardines de la Reina / Gardens of the Queen National Park, Caribbean Sea, Ciego de Avila, Cuba.