Photographer

Paul Humann

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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.

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.

Date Taken

4-11-2016

 
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