The proportion of corallivore species in relation to their coral prey species is higher in the eastern Pacific than in any other global coral reef region. The 47 known corallivore species are nearly equally divided among invertebrates and fishes. Prominent invertebrate corallivores of Pocillopora are an ovulid gastropod, hermit crabs, a sea urchin (in the Galápagos Islands), and the Crown-of-thorns Sea star, Acanthaster (in Mexico and Panama). A pufferfish (Arothron) is a frequent predator of Pocillopora and triggerfishes (Pseudobalistes, Sufflamen) have an indirect impact on massive corals (Porites, Pavona) when extracting date mussels (Lithophaga) imbedded in coral skeletons. Predation, a vital animal function, is manifest in diverse interrelated effects in coral reef ecosystems, ranging from planktivory, corallivory (which can exercise strong effects on coral abundance and community structure), indirect trophic interactions, and cryptofaunal predation. The defensive behaviors of crab and shrimp guard symbionts in protecting their coral hosts from predation are widespread and similar in eastern Pacific and Indo-Pacific regions. Free living shrimp and worm predators relentlessly attack and subdue Acanthaster over periods of days. Benthic invertivores (triggerfishes and turtles) are disruptive, breaking coral colonies and reef frameworks in pursuit of prey, but also promote coral asexual reproduction. Baited traps and simulated reef frameworks revealed highly diverse and abundant cryptic predator communities. Cryptic predators (e.g., polychaete worms, crustaceans, octopuses, and several fish families) inhabiting Pocillopora framework habitats are numerous and prey on larvae recruiting into reef structures from the plankton. While these diverse interactions are cryptic and often fleeting, their impact on the structure and ecology of coral reefs is consequential.