''Antillogorgia elisabethae'' is a species of

soft coral Alcyonacea, or soft corals, are an order of corals. In addition to the fleshy soft corals, the order Alcyonacea now contains all species previously known as "gorgonian corals", that produce a more or less hard skeleton, though quite different f ...

found in the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...

in the shape of a sea plume (also called a sea whip). It resides from depths of to , often at

reef A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral or similar relatively stable material, lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic processes— deposition of sand, wave erosion planing down rock out ...

drop-offs. It looks like a plume of feathery appendages with radial symmetry. The branches of ''A. elisabethae'' are

pinnate Pinnation (also called pennation) is the arrangement of feather-like or multi-divided features arising from both sides of a common axis. Pinnation occurs in biological morphology, in crystals, such as some forms of ice or metal crystals, and in ...

and distichous, and will orient themselves in the direction of the ocean current. It ranges in size from to . It is considered commercially important as it is harvested for analgesics and cosmetic creams. The compound that is believed to cause its beneficial effects is

Pseudopterosin A Pseudopterosin A is a diterpene glycoside isolated from the gorgonian sea whip ''Antillogorgia elisabethae ''Antillogorgia elisabethae'' is a species of soft coral found in the Caribbean Sea in the shape of a sea plume (also called a sea whip) ...

, a diterpene glycoside, a selective analgesic. ''A. elisabethae'' is also used in fish tanks as a part of the commercial pet industry. The species has a Least Concern

conservation status The conservation status of a group of organisms (for instance, a species) indicates whether the group still exists and how likely the group is to become extinct in the near future. Many factors are taken into account when assessing conservation ...

Reproduction

The female exposes her eggs to the water current by placing them on her reproductive polyps. Sperm will eventually come into contact with the eggs, and the fertilized egg will develop into a planula in 1–2 days. The larvae form a colony on the parent for 2–4 days and then will become free-swimming. The free-swimming larvae are

ciliated The cilium, plural cilia (), is a membrane-bound organelle found on most types of eukaryotic cell, and certain microorganisms known as ciliates. Cilia are absent in bacteria and archaea. The cilium has the shape of a slender threadlike projecti ...

and

bilaterally symmetric Symmetry in biology refers to the symmetry observed in organisms, including plants, animals, fungi, and bacteria. External symmetry can be easily seen by just looking at an organism. For example, take the face of a human being which has a pla ...

. Once the larvae become free-swimming, they will usually settle near the parent organism, as they are negatively buoyant and will sink to the ocean floor, where they grow into adults and continue the cycle. Its mating system is thus

polygynandrous Polygynandry is a mating system in which both males and females have multiple mating partners during a breeding season. In sexually reproducing diploid animals, different mating strategies are employed by males and females, because the cost of ga ...

. The peak reproductive times for ''A. elisabethae'' are between November and January.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2710026 Gorgoniidae Animals described in 1961