Josy Lai, Hongkong, China
Info
Anthogorgia divaricata is a very beautiful blue coral that grows in a fan shape and thus branches out in a single plane.
Its branches/twigs emerge from the main trunk or mother branch at roughly right angles.
The branches are slender, elongated, spread out and irregular, and densely covered with distinctive polyps that spread out abruptly at right angles to the branches.
This azooxanthellate horn coral has a thin coenenchyme filled with large, thickened sclerites measuring 0.8 mm.
The polyp sclerites are 0.2 mm long, elongated, spindle-shaped, and arranged in a chevron pattern.
The polyps are tall and cylindrical, arranged around the branches, contractile but not retractile.
One specimen (150 mm × 60 mm) was collected in the cave of Conic Island.
The website “Reef Corals of the Indo-Malayan Seas” lists additional color morphs, stating that colonies of Anthogorgia divaricata exist in white, orange, red, purple, yellow, and blue-green.
According to SOFT CORALS AND SEA FANS by Katharina Fabricius & Philip Alderslade, the following information on color is provided for the genus Anthogorgia on page 184:
"Bright colors such as yellow, orange, pink, red, or dark violet. Colonies are often multicolored, and the color of the polyps may contrast with the color of the coenenchyme."
So far, we are only aware of bluish-white colonies of Anthogorgia divaricata.
Since no exact information on water depth can be found in the literature, we asked Josy Lai, Hong Kong, China, at what depth she was able to take her great photo of Anthogorgia divaricata. Josy informed us that the photo was taken at a depth of 13 to 14 meters, in intertidal waters.
Unfortunately, we cannot provide any further information on this blue beauty at this time.
Our special thanks for the first photo of this coral go to Josy Lai, Hong Kong, China.
Synonym: Muricea divaricata Verrill, 1865 · unaccepted > superseded combination (original combination)
Its branches/twigs emerge from the main trunk or mother branch at roughly right angles.
The branches are slender, elongated, spread out and irregular, and densely covered with distinctive polyps that spread out abruptly at right angles to the branches.
This azooxanthellate horn coral has a thin coenenchyme filled with large, thickened sclerites measuring 0.8 mm.
The polyp sclerites are 0.2 mm long, elongated, spindle-shaped, and arranged in a chevron pattern.
The polyps are tall and cylindrical, arranged around the branches, contractile but not retractile.
One specimen (150 mm × 60 mm) was collected in the cave of Conic Island.
The website “Reef Corals of the Indo-Malayan Seas” lists additional color morphs, stating that colonies of Anthogorgia divaricata exist in white, orange, red, purple, yellow, and blue-green.
According to SOFT CORALS AND SEA FANS by Katharina Fabricius & Philip Alderslade, the following information on color is provided for the genus Anthogorgia on page 184:
"Bright colors such as yellow, orange, pink, red, or dark violet. Colonies are often multicolored, and the color of the polyps may contrast with the color of the coenenchyme."
So far, we are only aware of bluish-white colonies of Anthogorgia divaricata.
Since no exact information on water depth can be found in the literature, we asked Josy Lai, Hong Kong, China, at what depth she was able to take her great photo of Anthogorgia divaricata. Josy informed us that the photo was taken at a depth of 13 to 14 meters, in intertidal waters.
Unfortunately, we cannot provide any further information on this blue beauty at this time.
Our special thanks for the first photo of this coral go to Josy Lai, Hong Kong, China.
Synonym: Muricea divaricata Verrill, 1865 · unaccepted > superseded combination (original combination)
