Gorgonians
Alternative names: Sea fans, Sea whips
Gorgonians are sessile colonial cnidarians which live in tropical waters throughout the world. They are closely related to corals and may be brightly coloured, most often in red, purple or yellow. Their shapes range from flattened and branching fan-like to whip-like, feathery, and pinnate (where the branches interconnect into a mesh).
There are over 1,200 known species of gorgonians.