Purple Plume Gorgonian (Purple Sea Feather)
A variant of Gorgonian Sea Fan (Gorgonia ventalina)
Representative Gorgonian Sea Fanphoto — a dedicated image of this exact morph isn't available yet.
A bushy, feathery purple gorgonian — also called the Purple Sea Feather or Purple Bush — with long whippy branches and fine plume-like polyp rows rather than a rigid flat fan; polyps extend to give it a fuzzy appearance.
📜 Backstory
Sold under the recurring trade names 'Purple Plume,' 'Purple Sea Feather,' and 'Purple Bush Gorgonian' by Caribbean suppliers such as KP Aquatics and Tidal Gardens, with KP describing it as *Pseudopterogorgia* sp. (a genus now often reassigned to *Antillogorgia*). It is a hardy, photosynthetic Caribbean species and a popular easy alternative to the demanding flat *ventalina* fan. This is a descriptive species trade name, not a designer morph; lineage is wild Caribbean collection, often aquacultured by the vendor.
Keeper tips for this variant
Place in moderate-to-high light with strong, ideally intermittent flow; the feathery branches need brisk water movement to keep the long plumes extended and free of algae. Being photosynthetic, it needs little supplemental feeding.