Red Gorgonian

Photo: Frédéric ANDRE · CC BY-NC

Spectacular gorgonian fans up to 80 centimetres across colonise the current-swept reef walls below 15 metres, each colony filtering plankton from the passing Ionian flow. They are slow-growing — a colony 60 centimetres across may be 50 or more years old — and their abundance at Ereikoussa reflects decades without human disturbance. Chromodoris and other nudibranchs are found grazing on the gorgonian tissue, adding micro-scale colour to the macro spectacle.