Sea Whip Coral 195

Leptogorgia virgulata, commonly known as the sea whip or colorful sea whip, is a species of soft coral in the family Gorgoniidae.  Leptogorgia virgulata is a colonial coral averaging about 20 cm (8 in) in height, usually between 15 and 60 cm as an adult, but sometimes reaching 1 metre (3.3 ft). It does not have the rigid calcium carbonate skeleton possessed by the true corals but its stalks have an internal, axial skeleton which is stiffened by sclerites and covered by an outer layer, the coenenchyme. It has an upright growth habit with vertical, whip-like stems, sparsely branching near the base. These are uniform in colour, ranging from white, yellow, and orange to shades of red and mauve. The polyps are arranged in several rows along both sides of each branch while the rows on older main branches have distinct grooves between them, and when the polyps are retracted the calyces do not stick out.^[3] They are translucent white and each has eight tentacles and eight mesenteries and is so classified as an octocorallian. Octocorals, as cnidarians, have stinging cnidea, or nematocysts, for feeding and defense as well. Leptogorgia virgulata or sea whip coral 195 is found growing on rocks at depths down to 20 metres (66 ft) along the western fringes of the Atlantic Ocean, commonly found on the coastal shelfs of Southern states and on rock and limestone edges.^[7] The range extends from Chesapeake Bay south to the Gulf of Mexico and the species also occurs in Brazil.^[5] It is found on shallow water reefs, and also in estuaries and bays as it can tolerate low levels of salinity,^[6] but it typically prefers high salinity environments. Colonies of Leptogorgia virgulata or sea whip coral 195 are gonochoristic, being either male or female. Gametes are released into the water column where they are fertilised externally. The larvae are planktonic for 3-20 days and pass through a number of larval stages before settling on a suitable rocky substrate. Here they undergo metamorphosis and become feeding polyps which, in time, produce new polyps and develop into colonies. Mortality rates are high among new colonies.