Eunicella verrucosa

The broad sea fan, also called the pink sea fan or warty gorgonian, is a colonial soft coral belonging to the family Gorgoniidae. Its scientific name is *Eunicella verrucosa*. This species is found in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean and the western Mediterranean Sea.

The coral grows a densely branching, fan-shaped stem that usually lies flat in a single plane. It positions itself at a right angle to the direction of water flow. While it can reach a height of 50 centimeters, it more commonly grows to about 25 centimeters. The stems and branches are covered in wart-like bumps, from which the polyps emerge. Its color ranges from red through pink to white.

Its native range stretches from the southwestern coasts of Britain and Ireland down to France, Spain, Italy, Algeria, Morocco, Western Sahara, and Mauritania. A recent genetic study found clear population differences between samples from northwest Ireland, Britain, France, and southern Portugal. It grows on hard surfaces such as rock, timber, metal, or concrete, at depths between 4 and 50 meters. In British waters, this sea fan has become less common, possibly due to damage from dredging, though it may benefit from rising seawater temperatures.

The colony typically orients itself at right angles to the water current. The polyps extend and spread their tentacles to feed, and nutrients are shared throughout the colony via internal channels connecting the polyps. Reproduction in this species has not been studied much. The planula larvae are probably lecithotrophic, meaning they rely on a yolk-sac and can drift for a short time before settling on the seabed to develop into new polyps and colonies. Growth rates vary; in Lyme Bay, southern Britain, some colonies grew 6 centimeters in one year, while in another year they showed no growth at all. The sea fan anemone (*Amphianthus dohrnii*) is often found living on *Eunicella verrucosa*.