gorgonian text index | photo index
Phylum Cnidaria > Class Anthozoa > Subclass Alcyonaria/Octocorallia > Order Gorgonacea
Sea whip
Junceella sp.*
Family Ellisellidae
updated Dec 2019

Where seen? This long unbranched colony is sometimes seen on our Northern shores, on coral rubble.

Features: 20-30cm long. Stem cylindrical and unbranched and has bumps all around. Small transparent to white polyps emerge from these bumps when the colony is submerged. Usually white, but sometimes yellow ones are seen.

According to Fabricius, in some species, the tip of the colony can detach to fall to the sea floor and grow up as a new sea whip.

A long unbranched colony of Asparagus sea fan may resemble a sea whip. Another species that has a long unbranched whip-like form is Viminella sp.

Beting Bronok, Jul 03

Beting Bronok, Jun 04

Tuas, Apr 05

*
Species are difficult to positively identify without close examination.
On this website, they are grouped by external features for convenience of display
.
Sea whips on Singapore shores
On wildsingapore flickr

Other sightings on Singapore shores


Unidentified goby seen on a sea whip.
Chek Jawa, Jun 23
Photo shared by Kelvin Yong on facebook.


Chek Jawa, Jun 21
Photo shared by Loh Kok Sheng on facebook.


East Coast Park (B), Jun 21
Photo shared by Loh Kok Sheng on facebook.
 

Links

References

  • Fabricius, Katharina and Philip Alderslade, 2001. Soft Corals and Sea Fans. Australian Institute of Marine Science and the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territoriy. 264 pp.
  • Goh, N.K.C. and Chou, L.M. 20 December 1996. An annotated checklist of the gorgonians (Anthozoa: Octocorallia) of Singapore, with a discussion of gorgonian diversity in the Indo-West Pacific. Raffles Museum Bulletin of Zoology Pp. 435-459.
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