Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The wide-mesh sea fan (Gorgonia mariae) is also similar in appearance, but at only 30 centimetres (11.8 in), is smaller, and many of the branchlets do not interconnect. [4] The Venus sea fan is white, yellowish, or pale lavender. The fan is often found oriented perpendicular to the incoming waves and can grow to a height of 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in).
Many of the smaller branches are compressed in the plane of the fan, which distinguishes this species from the Venus sea fan (Gorgonia flabellum). It often has small accessory fans growing out sideways from the main fan. It grows to 1.5 m (5 ft) tall and is variable in colour, being whitish, yellow, or pale purple.
Venus fan (Gorgonia flabellum), Caribbean Sea at Goat Bay (Bahía de la Chiva) on Vieques Island, Puerto Rico Gorgonian with reproductive stage, Caribbean Sea at Cabrits National Park, Dominica A close-up of an alcyonacean showing individual polyps. The structure of a gorgonian colony varies.
This page was last edited on 19 March 2019, at 12:52 (UTC).; Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License; additional terms may ...
Main page; Contents; Current events; Random article; About Wikipedia; Contact us; Donate
These sea fans are found on vertical surfaces on reefs and under overhangs, usually orientated perpendicularly to the water flow. It may grow in assemblages with sponges, bryozoans or tunicates. It is preyed upon by the coral nudibranch, Phyllodesmium horridum, as well as the walking anemone, Preactis millardae. [3]
Gorgonia mariae, commonly known as the wide-mesh sea fan, is a species of sea fan, a sessile colonial soft coral in the family Gorgoniidae. It occurs in the tropical western Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea at depths down to about 50 m (160 ft).
The sea whip slug (Tritonia wellsi) feeds on the soft tissues of the sea fan. It is difficult to detect because it is disguised by having numerous small appendages called cerata which closely resemble the sea fan polyps. Another well disguised predator is the sea whip shrimp (Neopontonides beaufortensis ). [5]