Yellow Mopsella Sea Fan

Melithaea sp.

Also known as Mopsella

SaltwaterCoral

Yellow Mopsella Sea Fan (Melithaea sp.) — Nhobgood Nick Hobgood · CC BY-SA 3.0

Care at a glance

Temperature: 75–81°F (24–27°C)
pH: 8.1–8.4
Adult size: 23.6 in (60 cm)
Minimum tank: 26 gal (100 L)
Temperament: Peaceful
Social behavior: Solitary
Swim level: Bottom
Difficulty: Difficult
Breeding: Hard
Rarity: Very rare
Reef safe: Reef safe
Origin: Indo-Pacific current-swept reef slopes, including Palau
Family: Melithaeidae

Overview

Treat it exactly like the other non-photosynthetic sea fans, with several fine plankton feedings a day, ideally automated with a dosing pump, plus stable trace elements. Biota recommends a shaded position with moderate laminar flow so algae cannot gain a foothold on the branches, and the shade costs the coral nothing since it does not use light. It is peaceful, and realistic only for keepers already set up to feed non-photosynthetic corals every day.

In the wild

These fan gorgonians grow on current-swept slopes, walls and overhangs across the Indo-Pacific, wherever passing water carries a steady supply of plankton. The Biota Palau line has long, thin yellow branches speckled with red and set with small white polyps, so an open colony looks lit from within. Like other melithaeid fans it branches mostly in one plane, facing the flow.

Good to know

The trade still uses the genus name Mopsella, but a molecular revision of the family Melithaeidae folded Mopsella into Melithaea, which is how the World Register of Marine Species lists it today. The skeleton is jointed, built from alternating stiff internodes and swollen flexible nodes rather than one continuous rod. It is azooxanthellate, so none of its nutrition comes from light.

Did you know

Melithaeid fans flex on bamboo-like joints, alternating hard and soft segments along every branch, which lets a large fan bend with surge that would snap a rigid skeleton.