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.
Notes: Flamingo tongue gastropods, Cyphoma spp., are common predators of Pseudoplexaura spp. (Harvell and Suchanek, 1987).
Similar Species: Pseudoplexaura porosa
