AquaticCare difficulty: IntermediateLegal complexity: Low

Knobby sea rod

Eunicea · also called Knobby sea finger, Candelabra gorgonian

Stout, candelabra-shaped gorgonians from the Caribbean, recognised by the raised polyp cups that dot their branches like knobs or curled lips. Several Eunicea species share the name and look alike in the field, which is why this page is written for the genus. They depend on algae in their tissue, so they want real light and strong flow, and they should not be mistaken for the feed-only finger gorgonian.

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Quick facts

Size	Thick-branched, candelabra-like colonies, roughly 15-90 cm tall across the genus. Adult size depends on the species, which is seldom known for a hobby piece.
Lifespan	—
Social needs	solo
Native region	Florida, the Bahamas and the Caribbean
Origin	New World
Climate	Tropical
Water type	Marine
Family	Plexauridae
Genus	Eunicea

Part of the Soft Corals

Soft corals such as leathers, colt, cloves, Anthelia, gorgonians and Sympodium. Octocorals with flexible, often swaying colonies and eight-tentacled polyps, and no stony skeleton. Many are hardy, beginner-friendly reef corals driven by photosynthesis and tolerant of a wide range of light, flow and nutrients, but some gorgonians have no algae of their own and depend on regular feeding, so check eac

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Color & pattern variants

Natural variants occur in the wild; selectively bred (man-made) variants were developed in captivity.

Natural

Purple Knobby Sea Rod →

A piece that reads purple under blue reef lighting.

Deep Purple Knobby Sea Rod →

Named for a darker purple than the plain purple form. Nothing further is recorded about it.

Cream Knobby Sea Rod →

A cream colony with brown polyps.

Habitat & enclosure

Set it in the mid to upper reef with moderate to strong light and strong flow, because these colonies favour moving water. In the wild the group lives on reefs and hard bottom across the Caribbean, the Bahamas and Florida, at roughly 1 to 30 m.

Keep stable reef water: SG about 1.025, 24-27 °C (75-81 °F), pH 8.1-8.4, alkalinity 8-11 dKH, calcium 400-450 ppm and magnesium 1250-1350 ppm.

Substrate

Glue the base to live rock or a plug with reef-safe gel glue, or set it in a rock crevice, high enough that sand cannot drift over the base.

Equipment & setup

Use strong reef lighting and powerheads that send shifting flow across the whole colony. Skimming and regular water changes help keep film off the branches.

Diet

Relies on light. These colonies keep zooxanthellae, so lighting is the first need. A study of E. tourneforti found its algae photosynthesising at rates close to those of shallow stony corals. Offer fine foods regularly as a supplement: in that study its algae did not fully cover the colony's daily needs.

Behavior & temperament

The polyps sit in the raised calices, so an open colony looks furred and a closed one looks lumpy and bare. In the wild most colonies are a dull brown or grey. Under blue reef lighting a piece can read purple, and some hobby pieces are cream with brown polyps. Growth is slow: field measurements of E. tourneforti came to about 2 cm of height a year.

Health

Film algae and cyanobacteria are the main worry, because they settle where flow is weak and the tissue beneath can die back. A colony that stays shut for days, loses tissue or holds a film needs more flow and cleaner water. With growth this slow, damage takes a long time to repair, so act early.

Tips, DIY & hacks

Do not read the words sea finger in a trade name as a sign that a piece can live without light. Pieces called knobby sea finger are Eunicea and do need it, while the red finger gorgonian (Diodogorgia) is the one that must be fed. Expect colour to shift with your lighting, so a purple piece may look brown or grey under white light.