Coral Reef Photos » Soft Corals

Common Sea Fan, Gorgonia ventalina, Diving Curacao

barry — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 10:53:24 +0000

Good morning readers, here is a beautiful Common Sea Fan, Gorgonia ventalina that we found along the walls of the East coast a few months back during the Padi Submersion event. Sea fans grow attached to the seabed and look like exotic plants. Unlike soft corals, they have a supporting skeleton that provides a framework and allows them to grow quite large. It is made mainly of a flexible, horny material and consists of a rod that extends down the inside of all except the smallest branches. In the common sea fan, the branches are mostly in one plane and form a mesh that is aligned at right angles to the prevailing current. This increases the amount of planktonic food brought within reach of the polyps, which are arranged all around the branches. Here is Curacao if you want to see sea fans you need to get to our North coast where they grow like weeds! In Bonaire it’s the East Coast that is filled with forests of sea fans and is a favorite spot for sea turtles and schools of fish. These beautiful underwater corals really need strong current and seem to love the surge from passing waves. There really are not a lot of sea fans on the South side of Curacao but we do have a beauty in front of the Sea Aquarium that has been there since we came and has managed to survive thru countless big storms.

Not much else this morning, I need to go walk the dogs and get to work! See you soon, Barry

Devil’s Sea Whip Close-up, Macro, Polyps, Pinnules

barry — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 11:02:11 +0000

Open Polyps

Closed Polyps

Good morning friends, today you get two photos for the price of one!! As promised, here is a close-up of a Devil’s Sea Whip, Ellisella barbadensis. Yesterday, equipped with a trusty 105-2.8 Nikor macro lens I again took off down to 130 feet to help explain better what Octocorallian Polyps looks like. The top photo shows the eight tentacle octocorallian polyps out feeding and the bottom photo shows what happens when the polyps are disturbed or feel they are in danger, they disappear and hide! So as I mentioned two days ago, Octocorallian polyps have eight tentacles that bear tiny pinnate (feather like) projections called pinnules. Remember I also mentioned that these are gorgonians. The stems and branches of all gorgonians have a central skeleton or axis. The core is surrounded by gelatinous material called the rind. Polyps are embedded in the rind and extent their tentacles and bodies from surface openings (apertures). The arrangement of the polyps (in rows, alternating bands, randomly scattered, etc.) is often helpful in the identification process. The shape of polyp apertures and the rims around them, called calyces (calyx, singular), are often used to determine the genus and, occasionally the species. The beautiful red/orange color comes from one or the combination of three sources; pigments in the polyps tissues, intracellular symbiotic algae in the polyps tissues called zooxanthellae (zo-zan-THEL-ee), and or coloring minerals in the calcareous spicules of the colonial structure. Colors often vary between colonies of the same species and are rarely useful in the identification process. Occasionally, members of the subclass are inaccurately referred to as “horny corals” because their supporting skeletal material superficially resembles the horn-like protein of turtle shells, and the hoofs, horns, and antlers of mammals.

That’s your undersea lesson for the day, I need to get to work, have a wonderful day!! Barry

Sea Whip, Gorgonians, Octocorals, Soft Coral, Calyx

barry — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 02:15:51 +0000

Hi guys, I was sitting inside today thinking, “and yes it hurt”, about what common creature’s we have on the reef that I have never sent out to you and like a bolt of lightning it came to me, Sea Whips! This is a beautiful Sea Whip I found today for your viewing pleasure at 130 feet! These corals are by far the least visited and photographed out there possibly because of where they like to live, DEEP! These are corals, or more commonly know as soft corals and are in the Gorgonian family. Each single calyx or polyp works hard at catching and filtering plankton particles that pass by which in turn feeds the sea whip. The books say these grow to around eight feet in length but here on our reef they can grow much longer. I have been searching for months for a good one of these and finally found this one, the others I found (via the sub) are way to deep, they are growing at 175 feet and deeper and can be found to around 1600 feet, yikes! Today while at 130 feet, I looked down below me into the darkness and saw fields and fields of these Sea Whips, it’s one gorgonian that seems to be doing very well.

Not much else for you all today, it’s getting hot again here in Curacao, we sure could use a little rain about now. Take care, more tomorrow, Barry

Yellow Sea Whip, Pterogorgia citrina, Soft Corals

barry — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 00:55:24 +0000

Hi friends, here is something different that I have never sent before, this is called a Yellow Sea Whip, Pterogorgia citrina and they are very common in the Caribbean. I guess maybe that’s why I have never sent it out before?? These are classified as soft corals but are in the family Gorgoniidae/Gorgonians. They are fairly easy to ID on the reef, just look for small, bushy highly branched colonies. Branches are quite flat and narrow with polyps extending from swollen, slit-like apertures along the thin edges. Beware, there is a similar species called; Grooved Blade Sea Whip which is distinguished by polyps extending from a common grove along thin edges. The Yellow Sea Whip has branches that are bright yellow to green to olive with purple edges, occasionally all purple with polyps white to cream colored. My name for these are Sea Bushes and they are a great spot to find little Slender Filefish, crabs and shrimps and most baby fish call these home as well.

Not a whole lot to report tonight, it was a pretty quiet day. I did pick up a 29-inch 2011 Specialized Epic (bike) for a test ride this evening. To say it felt strange was an understatement and will take more than one ride to get used to it. I must say though, it was great on the straight rocky sections but not so hot on the corners, I will let you know more after I do a few more rides, I have it all weekend.

Off to bed, see you tomorrow, Barry

Common Sea Fan Regrowth, Gorgonia Ventalina, Sea Fans

barry — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 11:12:30 +0000

Good morning from Curacao! Yesterday I managed to do as I planned and left the house at 7:00 on my bike and headed via the road to the North Coast. It was a beautiful overcast morning with very little wind making my ride better and faster. I entered the North coast at a place called Canoa, “where all the surfers go” and continued at full speed in my big ring all the way to coral Tabak zooming past the row of giant windmills and winding thru trails along the coast. I then found my way past the bat caves and down to the waters of Saint Joris where I left the dirt and headed the rest of the way back home on the road. It was a great ride and there was hardly any traffic due to the holiday weekend and I finished in under an hour and a half. After showering and eating everything in sight I took off down to the glass beach to see how things had progressed since the bulldozer went thru a few weeks ago. To my surprise it was great again and I immediately found the biggest piece of red glass I had ever found adding to my already great morning! I then went back home after about an hour of collecting and did my own experiment in global warming…… I defrosted the freezer with a blow dryer!! Our freezer door would not even close anymore due to an overload of ice build-up and I finally got sick of having to yank on the drawers to get them out! And yes a blow-dryer works great! Turn that baby on high and just stand there for an hour or so, it will get the job done!

Here is something cool, this is a Common Sea Fan, Gorgonia ventalina which fell over on the reef and now is starting to re-grow new little fans. Gorgonia ventalina can be distinguished by their purple tissue and fan shape hence the common name “purple sea fan”. They are most commonly purple, however they can be yellow or brown in color but these colors are much rarer. Their branches are rounded and slightly compressed in the plane of a fan, with small calyces located in 2 rows along the edges of these branches. They can grow to be about 180cm tall by 150cm wide. The time needed to grow to this length is estimated to be about 2 to 5 years; however they do continue to grow beyond the average but at a much slower rate. The life span of a gorgonian is unknown, and scientists state that there is no evidence from fossil or current records of a sea fan dying from old age. The most common death to a sea fan is destruction by wave energy and overgrowth of their tissues by organisms such as Millepora alcicornis and some encrusting bryozoans. As a diver I have been trying to help these sea fans when out on any given dive by checking them for any destructive Flamingo Tongues that may be attached and eating them, they do so much damage! One can easily remove the tongues by just pulling them off and placing them somewhere else on the reef away from corals or gorgonians, like on a mossy rock.

Today the puppy (LUCKY) leaves our house at 10:00 and goes to her new home, it’s a sad and happy day at the same time! Last night we did a first ever walk with her new momma and their other dog and they both seemed to do real well, we sure will miss her, and new name will be JOY!!

Off to clean some trails, Barry

Sea Fans, Gorgonians, Soft Corals, Sea Fan Forest

barry — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 00:34:34 +0000

Hi all, here are some Common Sea Fans for your viewing pleasure tonight, they always remind me of a beautiful underwater garden swaying back and forth with each passing wave. Sea fans are commonly called “soft corals” but are gorgonians because of the colonies lack of a hard. rigid. permanent skeleton. Gorgonians include the animal colonies known as sea rods, flat sea whips, sea feather plumes, sea fans and orange sea whips. Most sea fans are fan shaped, flexible horny corals. Sea Fans are a soft coral with calcium carbonate spicules scattered throughout their body. They can be red, purple, yellow, or orange and grow up to six feet tall and five feet wide. Sea fans will anchor themselves in the sand or the mud, unlike other types of coral that attach to hard substrates. Sea fans are mainly found in the Atlantic Ocean, from Bermuda to Curacao. Sea Fans are unique in that they are the one of a very few groups of coral to have a gastrovascular cavity. This allows them to eat larger prey. To feed, the polyps spread out their feathery tentacles to form a net to catch prey. The polyps are inter-connected. One part of the sea fan can support and feed the whole colony, an aspect that is both beneficial and detrimental, as it allows disease to spread quickly throughout the coral.

It’s funny, it poured at work today for around five minutes but we didn’t get a drop of it on our house?? We live a half mile away or 3 minutes by bike, unbelievable??

Have a wonderful evening, Barry

Sea Rods, Gorgonians, Octocorals, Soft Corals

barry — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 00:46:49 +0000

Good evening readers, here is something really cool, this is either a Doughnut Sea Rod or a Slit-Pore Sea Rod, please let me know if you know for sure. The problem is; less than half of the 60-70 reef gorgonians can be visually identified to species underwater. Positive identification requires microscopic examination of the location, pattern, shape and size of the skeletal spicules embedded in the polyp’s and colony’s common tissue. The top photo shows the polyps fully contracted and the below photo the polyps are retracted, cool huh. These Sea Rods are Octocorals or Gorgonians and are commonly called soft corals. These soft corals resemble thick-trunked, branched trees and are beautiful to watch as they sway back and forth with the passing of each wave. The stems and branches of all gorgonians have a central skeleton or axis. The central core in the suborder Scleraxonia is composed of either tightly bound or fused calcareous spicules. A wood-like core typifies the suborder Holaxonia. The core is surrounded by gelatinous material (not Jell-O Dan) called the rind. Still with me? So finally the polyps are embedded in the rind and extend their tentacles and bodies from the surface openings (apertures). The arrangement of the polyps (in rows, alternating bands, randomly scattered, etc.) is often helpful in the identification process.

My dive today was close to being a waste of time because of the strong current I was in! If I see something I want to shoot it’s almost impossible to turn around and go back, that’s how hard the current is pushing you, it’s like swimming up a river. Other than this fun shot I did get a few coral bleaching progress photos but that was about it, I ended up just doing a whole lot of kicking!

Have a great night, Barry

Long Sea Whip, Holaxonia, Octocorals, Gorgonians

barry — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 10:45:17 +0000

Good morning all, here is something new I found on a deep dive yesterday. I think this is a Long Sea Whip? If any of you experts out there know for sure please drop me a line. I found this one at 125 feet out in front of the Sea Aquarium on our weekly dive for Lionfish and noticed it right away as being something different. Like the colorful sea whip and the bushy sea whip the long sea whip belongs to the family of Gorgonians or soft corals, and belong to the suborder Holaxonia. These colonial cnidarians are so named because they lack the permanent, rigid skeleton of hard corals. As octocorallians, they possess eight tentacles. Branches in gorgonians are arranged around a central axis but sea whip colonies are moderately branching into whip-like stalks. Polyps alternate in rows along two sides of each branch; rows are separated by distinct grooves on older main branches. The color of the colony is variable and may range from shades of purple, red, orange, yellow or white. Sea whip polyps are translucent to white. I will keep my eyes open for more and get a close up of the polyps the next time we go in search of lionfish. Oh and by the way we saw six lionfish at this depth, we caught four, they can move fast if threatened! I also noticed the corals are doing better every day but many just won’t make it, I saw may covered in Algae and are now a permanent home for a damselfish and his dumb garden, it’s so sad.

Curacao got hit with yet another insane downpour of rain yesterday, I just can’t believe it, we are now going into the 3rd month of moisture? I was out shopping when it hit so my drive home was slow as all the roads were raging rivers of water and of course it all flowed into the sea again!

I better get to work, have a great day, Barry

Porous Sea Rod, Gorgonians, Octocorals, Holaxonia

barry — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 10:56:27 +0000

Good morning my blog reading friends, I am curious how winter is treating you all this fine Wednesday morning?? I came across this beautiful Porous Sea-Rod or (Gorgonian if you will) the other day and had to stop and take it’s picture. And yes I see a lot of these so why did this one catch my eye?? I think it was the way it was separated from the rest of the gorgonian forest and just standing out in the open all by itself and it was fairly small and very complete. On our Sea Aquarium reef we have one spot in general that is in fact a forest of swaying gorgonian corals of every kind and every shape, it’s one of my favorite places to dive! Most of you already know that these sea-rods are corals and corals are animals, they are often mistaken for plants due to their sessile habit and bushy or tree like shapes. Large aggregations of corals may resemble small forests or thickets. Some coral colonies may exceed fifteen feet (five meters) in height and form extensive deep-water “coral gardens”. These are often associated with large numbers of fish and other marine life. Deep-sea corals inhabit the deeper continental shelves, slopes, canyons and seamounts of the ocean at depths anywhere from one hundred sixty feet (fifty meters) to ten thousand feet (more than three thousand meters). During the day the polyps are open as you see here meaning they are feeding, eating anything small enough that passes thru their branches if you will. Without the polyps out this sea-rod would look like a bunch of broom-handles tied together and have a much different appearance.

Well yesterday the sun was out and it was great! I did one sub-dive at 3:00 and after did a super fun, super fast hour and a half bike ride with two of the fastest kids on the island, they are keeping this o’l man in great shape! That’s about it for today, I have to be in the water at 9:00 so I better get moving!

Have a wonderful day, Barry

Seahorse Holding Onto a Soft Coral, Gorgonian

barry — Sun, 30 May 2010 20:42:53 +0000

Hello Sunday readers, I would love to know what everyone is out doing on this wonderful day, please drop us a line and let us know. I left the house at 7:00 on my bike and didn’t get home till 10:30, that was a long ride! I first rode to the North coast and then over to Saint Joris where I met some friends and finally got to show off the new trail, it was really fun. For now the only way folks will find this trail is by word of mouth as the entrance and exit are very well hidden. It was a beautiful morning for riding, we again had no wind and on a bike that’s good news! I rode up some long hills today very fast and they normally are very difficult. When I finally did get home I just put the bike on the back of the car, loaded two waiting dogs and took them for another bike ride to a small beach for a morning swim. When we got to the beach I was still super dirty from the ride and just dove into the ocean with the dogs to clean off and be refreshed, man-o-man did that ever feel great! I swam pretty far out as the ocean was still dead calm and the dogs followed, both are great swimmers! So now I am back home and worn out, my legs are very tired and I have a small headache. Aimee and I are going to the movies at 6:00 to see the new Shrek and fill up on popcorn!

Here’s my very hidden seahorse from yesterday’s dive. What I like about this photo the most is, look at the gorgonian he is holding onto, the polyps are all closed where his tail is attached. Gorgonians are soft coral or live animals and when you touch them they retract their individual polyps for safety and will re-open once he leaves or moves to another area. Without the flash this seahorse looks black and is very hard to see, this was the first time I had ever seen him up this high before, usually they like the sandy areas.

Need to get ready to go, hope your all having a great weekend, Barry