Sea Fan

Melithaea spongiosa

• Group: Coral
• For divers: safe

A branching sea fan of reefs with hard or rocky footing, it grows across both shallow and deep water. Its colony spreads into the current as a living net, each tiny polyp straining plankton from the passing flow.

Taxonomy: Animalia › Cnidaria › Octocorallia › Malacalcyonacea › Melithaeidae › Melithaea

Species data via the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS), AphiaID 746546.