Red Whip Gorgonian

Callistephanus spauldingi

Red Whip Gorgonian

Callistephanus spauldingi

Other Common Names
Spaulding’s sea fan coral, short red gorgonian. Spaulding’s gorgonian

Rocky Coast

Other Common Names

Spaulding’s sea fan coral, short red gorgonian. Spaulding’s gorgonian

At the Aquarium

Rocky Coast

Appearance

These gorgonians are salmon-orange, coral-colored, or purple. Each flat, branched and fan-shaped structure is a colony. These stout branches are each about 2-4 inches long. The individuals are the small white or very pale pink polyps closely-scattered across the surface on all sides. There might be a slightly raised mound at the base of each polyp.

Habitat

Subtidally from 130-1,100 feet deep

Diet

Suspension feeders; plankton and detritus

Life History

There is still a lot to be learned about the reproduction of cold water corals. They have separate sexes and likely broadcast spawn gametes into the water where fertilization takes place. Gorgonians of their genus (2 genera names are used in the literature) have a small number of large eggs that, in one study of 8 species, found a maximum number of 76 eggs in one female. These gorgonians can reach heights of at least 4.7 inches

IUCN Status

Not Evaluated

Ecosystem & Cultural Importance

Gorgonians often provide 3-D structure and habitat for other organisms, including for fish, worms, brittle stars, etc. Cold water corals can provide structure to deep water habitats that are otherwise featureless.

British Columbia to California

You would have to scuba dive underwater to observe red whip gorgonians in Oregon.

Gorgonians are a group of colonial soft corals, even though they’re not actually soft. They have tiny hard skeletal structures called sclerites in their soft tissues which make them feel hard.

Citations & Other Resources

Feehan, Keri A., and Rhian G. Waller. inchesNotes on reproduction of eight species of Eastern Pacific cold-water octocorals.inches Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 95.4 (2015): 691-696.
Horvath, Elizabeth Anne. inchesA review of gorgonian coral species (Cnidaria, Octocorallia, Alcyonacea) held in the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History research collection: focus on species from Scleraxonia, Holaxonia, Calcaxonia–Part III: Suborder Holaxonia continued, and suborder Calcaxonia.inches ZooKeys 860 (2019): 183.
Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History
Wilborn, Rachel Elizabeth. Field Guide to Corals of British Columbia, Canada, Alaska, USA, and the Eastern North Pacific Ocean (Anthozoa: Octocorallia and Hexacorallia)(Hydrozoa: Anthoathecata): A Complete Compilation of Coral Identification for the Eastern North Pacific Ocean. Fisheries and Oceans Canada= Pêches et Océans Canada, 2021. Accessed at: https://waves-vagues.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/library-bibliotheque/40979210.pdf

Red Whip Gorgonian

Red Whip Gorgonian

Other Common Names

At the Aquarium

Appearance

Habitat

Diet

Life History

IUCN Status

Ecosystem & Cultural Importance

Citations & Other Resources

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