Various types of live coral from coastal areas in Japan, including rare species, are being sold in pet shops in and around Tokyo, a group monitoring wildlife trafficking said Wednesday.

A survey conducted by the Japan office of the Trade Records Analysis Flora and Fauna in Commerce found that up to 60 species of coral were being sold in one shop alone, with the highest price for one piece being 40,000 yen.

This deer's-horn coral can be seen at a Tokyo aquarium.

Coral does not survive in standard fish tanks.

In conjunction with experts, the group confirmed 12 of the 16 pet and tropical fish shops they visited in Tokyo, Kanagawa and Chiba prefectures sold coral from such coastal areas as the Kii Peninsula, Shikoku and Kumamoto Prefecture. Among those on display were rare species.

There are almost no regulations controlling the coral trade in Japan.

The number of enthusiasts keeping coral in their own tanks has increased over the past couple of years, and rare species are advertised on Web sites, the group said.

Members of the group and the World Wide Fund for Nature submitted petitions Wednesday to the environment and fisheries agencies asking them to conduct detailed examinations of the coral trade.

They said the trade in coral damages its habitats, which have been shrinking due to increasing environmental destruction.

Even though prefectures such as Tokyo and Okinawa ban the collection of coral by divers not engaged in the fisheries business, authorities cannot establish a case unless they catch perpetrators red-handed.

Aquarium officials said the indiscriminate hunting of coral has been increasing.