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Family

Plexauridae

Common Name(s)

Pinnate spiny sea fan

Colony Form

Tall, fan-shaped, pinnately branched in one plane, to 45 cm tall.

Axis

Present

Branches

End branches stiff, widely spaced, slightly enlarged at tips, to 50 mm long, usually 20-30 mm; arising from main stems at right angles but soon turning upward; occasionally interconnecting.

Apertures

Well spaced (not crowded), prominent, with pointed lower lip but no spike, directed upward toward branch tip.

Mucus

None

Color

Yellow or yellowish-brown; dries yellow to orange. Sclerites amber.

Sclerites

Outer layer and calices: spindles ranging from slender with fine thorns 0.2-0.3 mm long, to stout with tubercles on outer surface modified as blunt thorns but no strong spines, to 1.2 mm. Inner layer: acute spiny spindles near branch tips, 0.15-0.45 mm long; short capstans lower in colony, 0.15-0.35 mm.

Habitat

Moderate to deep forereefs at depths of 13-36 m.

Distribution

Carolinas, occasional on both coasts of Florida, northern Gulf of Mexico. Not reported from Bahamas or Caribbean Sea.

Notes

Similar to Muricea pinnata but distinguished by red color when alive; in M. pendula, the large pointed sclerites of calices lack a terminal spike, inner sclerites are larger and end branches thicker.

Similar Species

Muricea pinnata

Date Taken

4-11-2016

 
COinS