Preview
Family
Briareidae
Common Name(s)
Corky sea finger
Colony Form
One to several upright, unbranched rods arising from common encrusting base. Polyps >1 cm in length, with long tentacles, appearing as dense fur or hair when extended, making rods appear much thicker than when the polyps are retracted.
Axis
None
Branches
None
Apertures
Pinhole-sized, each often on a low swelling.
Mucus
Absent
Color
Purple, purplish gray, or with some tan; polyps brown, grayish- or greenish brown. Apertures may be surrounded by darker purple. May dry yellow or yellow brown.
Sclerites
Large tuberculate spindles or 3-rayed sclerites.
Habitat
Most shallow reef environments.
Distribution
Bahamas, South Florida, and Caribbean Sea.
Date Taken
4-11-2016
Notes
Similar Briareum polyanthes forms encrusting meatball-like knobs usually encrusting other octocorals. Erythropodium caribaeorum