Preview
Family
Plexauridae
Common Name(s)
False cross plexaura
Colony Form
Profusely and dichotomously branched in roughly one plane; to 34 cm tall.
Axis
Cylindrical
Branches
Thin, cylindrical, arising chiefly near colony base, ~4-6 mm in diameter.
Apertures
Circular to oval, ~1 mm across, closely crowded; no projecting calices, but lower rims slightly raised toward branch tips.
Mucus
Slimy
Color
Living colonies greenish yellow to yellow. Dries greenish gray to brownish gray.
Sclerites
Polyp armature: small rods. Axial layer: purple 6- to 8-rayed capstans, simple and branched spindles, and irregular sclerites. Surface layer: abundant small (0.1-0.15 mm) 3-flanged leaf-clubs; narrow, straight or curved spindles with close complex tubercles, slightly >1 mm long, but smaller, often branched and purple in deeper layers.
Habitat
Shallow reefs to 20 m depth.
Distribution
South Florida, Bermuda, Caribbean Sea.
Similar Species
Date Taken
4-11-2016
Notes
Flamingo tongue gastropods, Cyphoma spp., are common predators of Pseudoplexaura spp. (Harvell and Suchanek, 1987).