Briareum asbestinum, commonly known as the corky sea finger, is a species of a soft coral in the family Briareidae.

[1] It inhabits coral reefs and rocky bottoms in the Caribbean, Bahamas, and Florida, often growing to 30 cm at depths of one to 40 metres.

Shallow water morphs also have shorter sclerites than their deepwater counterparts.This phenotypic plasticity results from unknown environmental factors, but may be the result of predation, light density reductions with depth, or increased fragility in shallow waters.

[7][8] Briareum asbestinum is found in shallow tropical waters of the western Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea in depths up to 35m.

[7] Briareum asbestinum can reproduce both sexually, by the annual release of gametes into the water column, and vegetatively by the growth of broken fragments that settle to the ocean floor and can colonize a suitable site.