Purple Sea Plume

Care at a glance

Overview

Anchor the base in rock in a 100 liter or larger reef with bright light and strong, preferably turbulent flow to keep the branches clean. It is one of the hardier gorgonians because it photosynthesizes, but it still does best with phytoplankton fed a few times a week and stable pH and salinity. Trim and glue a cut branch to propagate it, since it frags very easily. Keep flow high enough that no film algae settles on the stalk, which is the usual cause of tissue loss.

In the wild

A photosynthetic gorgonian that grows upright as a bushy, feathery sea plume with a purple to lavender trunk and fine side branches. Small polyps open along the branches and give the colony a soft, fuzzy outline when feeding. It sways in the current like a plume of feathers, which is where the common name comes from. Colonies can reach a foot or more tall in the wild.

Good to know

Antillogorgia bipinnata was known for many years as Pseudopterogorgia bipinnata, until Atlantic sea plumes were moved into the genus Antillogorgia in 2012. It carries symbiotic zooxanthellae in its tissue, so unlike many colorful non-photosynthetic gorgonians it makes much of its own food from light. The purple color comes from pigments in the rind over its flexible protein skeleton.

Did you know

A branch snipped off with scissors and glued to a rock will usually root and grow, making it one of the easiest corals to propagate at home.

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