Purple Sea Blade

Care at a glance

Overview

Epoxy or glue the base to live rock in a 100 liter or larger reef with medium to bright light and strong flow. It is a hardy, forgiving gorgonian that runs mostly on light but appreciates occasional phytoplankton and trace elements like iodine and strontium to support the skeleton. Keep water moving briskly over the blades so nuisance algae and detritus do not smother them. It coexists peacefully with most tankmates and does not sting neighbors.

In the wild

A photosynthetic gorgonian with flat, ribbon-like blades instead of round branches, edged with grooves where the polyps emerge. The blades are purple to grayish and fork as the colony grows upright. Feeding polyps line the margins of each blade and give the edges a fringed look when open. It is unmistakable among aquarium gorgonians because of the wide flattened branches.

Good to know

Pterogorgia anceps is a member of the family Gorgoniidae and hosts symbiotic zooxanthellae, making it a photosynthetic species. The polyps sit in grooves along the edges of the blades, a layout that helps distinguish it from round-branched sea whips. Its skeleton is built from the flexible protein gorgonin rather than stony aragonite.

Did you know

The flat forked blades look so much like ribbon or seagrass that divers often overlook it as a plant until the polyps open.

Related species

• 

  Purple Sea Plume

  Antillogorgia bipinnata

  17.7 in (45 cm)26 gal (100 L)73–81°F (23–27°C)

• 

  Sea Fan Gorgonian

  Rumphella

  11.8 in (30 cm)20 gal (75 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)

• 

  Table Acropora

  Acropora hyacinthus

  17.7 in (45 cm)53 gal (200 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)

• 

  Porites

  Porites

  13.8 in (35 cm)40 gal (150 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)

• 

  Broccoli Tree Coral

  Litophyton

  11.8 in (30 cm)11 gal (40 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)

• 

  Colt Coral

  Cladiella

  11.8 in (30 cm)20 gal (75 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)