''Eunicella verrucosa'', the broad sea fan, pink sea fan or warty gorgonian, is a species of

colonial Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French Colonial * Spanish Colonial architecture Automobiles * Colonial (1920 au ...

Gorgonian "soft coral" in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Gorgoniidae Gorgoniidae is a family of soft corals, a member of the subclass Octocorallia in the phylum Cnidaria. Nearly all the genera and species are native to the east and west coasts of America. Characteristics Originally the members of the family Go ...

. It is native to the north-eastern Atlantic Ocean and the western Mediterranean Sea.

Description

''Eunicella verrucosa'' has a densely branching, fan-like stem and usually grows in a single plane. It orientates itself at right angles to the direction of water movement and can grow to a height of , although is a more usual size. Stems and branches are covered with wart-like growths from which the polyps protrude. The colour can vary from red, through pink to white.

Distribution

''Eunicella verrucosa'' is native to the northeastern Atlantic and the western Mediterranean Sea. Its range extends from the southwestern coasts of Britain and Ireland to France, Spain, Italy, Algeria, Morocco, Western Sahara and Mauritania. A recent study of genetic connectivity in ''Eunicella verrucosa'' identified marked population structure between samples from northwest Ireland, Britain, France and southern Portugal. It is found growing on rock, timber, metal or concrete and its depth range is . In British waters this sea fan has become scarcer, possibly being damaged by dredging but may benefit from higher seawater temperatures.

Biology

''Eunicella verrucosa'' is usually orientated at right angles to the direction of water flow across the colony. The polyps expand and spread out their tentacles to feed. The nutrients are passed to other parts of the colony through the internal channels connecting the polyps. Reproduction in ''Eunicella verrucosa'' has been little studied. The

planula A planula is the free-swimming, flattened, ciliated, bilaterally symmetric larval form of various cnidarian species and also in some species of Ctenophores. Some groups of Nemerteans also produce larvae that are very similar to the planula, which ...

larvae are likely to be

lecithotrophic Oviparous animals are animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive method of most fish, amphibians, most reptiles, and all pterosaurs, dinosaurs (including birds), and m ...

(sustained by a yolk-sac) and able to drift for a short time before settling on the seabed where they develop into polyps and found new colonies. The growth rate of colonies varies; in

Lyme Bay Lyme Bay is an area of the English Channel off the south coast of England. The south western counties of Devon and Dorset front onto the bay. The exact definitions of the bay vary. The eastern boundary is usually taken to be Portland Bill on the ...

in southern Britain, some colonies grew by in one year while in another year, did not grow at all. The sea fan anemone (''

Amphianthus dohrnii ''Amphianthus dohrnii'', the sea fan anemone, is a species of sea anemone in the family Hormathiidae. It occurs in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea and grows on sea fans. Distribution and habitat ''Amphianthus dohrnii'' i ...

'') is often found living on ''Eunicella verrucosa''.

References

External links

Marine Life Encyclopaedia

Image of a broad sea fan

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q301518 Gorgoniidae Cnidarians of the Atlantic Ocean Fauna of the Mediterranean Sea Anthozoa of North Africa Anthozoa of Europe Invertebrates of Africa Invertebrates of Europe Corals described in 1766 Taxa named by Peter Simon Pallas Taxonomy articles created by Polbot