[3] 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.

[1] This species is endemic to the Mediterranean Sea, where it is attested already in the Upper Pliocene.

[5] The colonies grow through budding, but the species spreads through the settlement of plankton-like larva on seabed suited to colonisation.

Cladocora caespitosa is classified as endangered under the IUCN red list, mostly based on recent mass die-offs caused by heat wave events in the Mediterranean.