Preview
Family
Plexauridae
Common Name(s)
Dwarf sea rod, Dwarf plexaurella
Colony Form
Low to moderate height, bushy, laterally branched
Axis
Present
Branches
End branches short or long, straight or curved, crowded or sparse, 3.5-4.5 mm in diameter, often with slightly swollen tips.
Apertures
With raised rims.
Mucus
None
Color
Pale tan, putty; dries tan, putty
Sclerites
Outer layer: minute sexradiates ~0.05-0.1 mm long. Middle layer: belted spindles, straight or bent, ~0.3 mm long, with a few triradiates and butterfly-forms. Axial layer: straight blunt spindles with warts in transverse belts, 0.2 mm long, with a few butterfly-forms, which become stouter near colony base and accompanied by more numerous capstans.
Habitat
On reefs.
Distribution
Known chiefly from Brazil; possible records from Lesser Antilles, Caribbean coast of Mexico and west coast of Florida. Depths unknown.
References
Similar Species
Date Taken
4-11-2016
Notes
Low, bushy growth form with crowded branches may resemble Eunicea fusca. Branches tend to be more slender than those of otherPlexaurella species. Oval, more widely spaced apertures distinguish it from Eunicea species. Wirtz et al. (2009) recorded two unidentified shrimp as symbionts.