The Sea Fan Coral (Pinnigorgia sp.) is a marine (saltwater) soft coral in the Gorgoniidae family of sea fans. It is not a plant.
The Sea Fan Coral has calcareous spicules (horny nodules) on branchlets. The branchlets are usually slender. It can be whiplike, bushy, or spread out like a fan. The polyps are retractable with eight tentacles. It can be purple, red, or yellowish.
It grows to several feet high and across, but only a few inches thick.
It is found in the oceans of the east and west coasts of America. It prefers warm waters, preferably in deep seas.
The Sea Fan Coral is a filter feeder. Each tentacle catches minute plankton in the water and filters out the water and sand.
It lives in a colony of lots of Sea Fans.
Location of photographs: Sea Life London Aquarium, England
Photographer: Martina Nicolls
Martina Nicolls: SIMILAR BUT DIFFERENT IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM