Preview
Family
Plexauridae
Common Name(s)
Gray plexaurella, Gray sea rod
Colony Form
Colonies tall, bushy, dichotomously branched, with long thin branches arising near the base and through half-way up colony height.
Branches
Branches thin, straight, firm and stiff; 5-12 mm in diameter.
Apertures
Oval and pore-like, conspicuously open; mostly smooth, or with aperture margins slightly elevated; long axes of apertures oriented along branch.
Mucus
None
Color
Light brown, beige, or grey.
Sclerites
Polyp armature: small flat rods 0.06 mm long. Axial layer: 6-radiates ~0.15 mm across, and some flattened rods. Middle layer: stout 6-radiates, some with two longer rays; also short-rayed, stubby butterfly sclerites. Surface layer: small 6-radiates, most with two rays slightly longer.
Habitat
Common on patch reefs and inshore, less common on deep reefs.
Distribution
South Florida, Bermuda and throughout the Caribbean Sea.
Similar Species
Plexaurella nutans; Plexaurella fusifera; Plexaurella dichotoma; Pseudoplexaura porosa; Pseudoplexaura flagellosa; Pseudoplexaura wagenaari; Eunicea knighti; Eunicea pinta
Date Taken
4-11-2016
Notes
Most middle layer sclerites are 6-radiates with two arms more strongly developed; also some short-rayed, stubby butterfly sclerites (Bayer 1961). Preyed upon by the generalist octocoral predatory snail Cyphoma gibbosum, but also by Cyphoma signatum, a specialist predator on Plexaurella spp. (Ruesink and Harvell 1990).