Pink sea fan

Photo: tamsynmann · © all rights reserved

Eunicella verrucosa is a branching soft coral gorgonian that forms dense stands on the vertical and overhanging granite faces of La Maddalena's boulders, typically from 15 metres downward. It grows in the same plane as prevailing current, creating flat fan structures that can reach 60 centimetres across. Each branch is studded with individual polyps that extend to filter zooplankton from passing water; the structure also shelters blennies, gobies, and the tiny parasitic snail Simnia spelta.