Preview
Family
Plexauridae
Common Name(s)
Orange muricea, Orange spiny sea rod
Colony Form
Tall, bushy; branching is lateral in lower part of colony, often pinnate towards top of colony; to 46 cm tall.
Axis
Present
Branches
End branches long, ascending, 4-5 mm in diameter; irregularly pinnate but not appearing plumose.
Apertures
Crowded, with sharply pointed lower lip directed upward toward branch tip.
Mucus
None
Color
Yellow, yellowish-brown, orange or amber; dries a distinctive orange-brown.
Sclerites
Outer layer and calices: spindles ranging from slender with fine thorns, 0.5 mm long, to stout with strong spines on one side, 0.8 mm long. Inner layer: spinose spindles near branch tips; stellate capstans with profuse complex sculpturing lower in colony, 0.2-0.3 mm.
Habitat
Shallow to moderate depths (3-22 m) attached to hard substrates exposed or buried in sand, and patch reefs.
Distribution
South Florida (from West Palm Beach southward) and Gulf Coast, Bahamas, and Caribbean Sea.
Similar Species
Date Taken
4-11-2016
Notes
Muricea laxa is similar but is bluish gray with thinner branches, less crowded calices that have a more projecting lower lip, and occurs in deeper water. Muricea muricata branches chiefly in one plane with short terminal branches.