This is a sea pen (Virgularia gustaviana: height 12 cms.) with its numerous eight tentacled polyps feeding in the current. Sea pens are most commonly encountered on sandy or silty substrates, to which they attach themselves by a bulbous 'foot'. A soft coral colony, it consists of a central stalk from which branches extend on either side. The polyps live on these branches and, when resting, fold their tentacles inwards to form tiny balls. If threatened, the whole colony can be retracted into the substrate. The common name is because they reminded people of feathery quill pens. Bali, Indonesia.

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Size: 2045px × 3085px
Location: Near Tulamben, Bali, Indonesia
Photo credit: © Terence Dormer / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No

Keywords: adventure, bali, coral, creation, feeding, gustaviana, indonesia, life, marine, natural, pen, pens, polyps, quill, reef, sea, selection, short-quill, soft, trd5143, underwater, virgularia