sea fan

Any of various gorgonian corals having a flexible branching skeleton in the shape of a fan.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

sea fan

(Animals) any of various corals of the genus Gorgonia and related genera, having a treelike or fan-shaped horny skeleton: order Gorgonacea (gorgonians)

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

sea′ fan`

any of certain gorgonian corals, esp. Gorgonia flabellum, of the West Indies, in which the colony assumes a fanlike form.

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Noun

sea fan - corals having a treelike or fan-shaped horny skeleton

gorgonian, gorgonian coral - corals having a horny or calcareous branching skeleton

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References in periodicals archive

Gorgonian corals, including the common sea fan Gorgonia ventalina Linnaeus, 1758, are prevalent on reefs across the Caribbean Sea (Kinzie, 1973; Opresko, 1973; Sanchez et al., 1998; Jordan-Dahlgren, 2002).

Stable Symbiodinium composition in the sea fan Gorgonia ventalina during temperature and disease stress

Post-storm piles included broken branches of sea fan and mounds of tube-, trumpet-, and antlershaped sponges.

Beachcombing for Yucatan's treasures

Previously, Smith had linked a terrestrial fungus, Aspergillus sedowii, to a devastating Caribbean sea fan epidemic.

Ill Winds

Monofilament line tangles fish and crabs and also cuts the soft tissue of sponges and corals like the pink sea fan, a UK protected species.

'Extreme litter pickers' dive deep to keep marine haven clean and safe; PHONES AND CHAIRS AMONG ITEMS RECOVERED FROM SEA

A report by WWF said the Bill would allow for the creation of Marine Conservation Zones to protect at-risk areas, for example Lyme Bay, where corals such as the protected pink sea fan are under threat from scallop dredging.

Charity urges protection for at-risk UK marine life

THE COMPLETE LIST OF DECLINING SPECIES IN WALES Freshwater pearl mussel Red squirrel Crucifix ground beetle Skylark Water vole Fan mussel White-clawed freshwater crayfish Dune gentian (flower) Juniper Fern orchid Minutest diving beetle Pearl-bordered fritillary (butterfly) Linnet Southern damselfly (dragonfly) Common skate Zircon reed beetle Pink sea fan (jellyfish) Marsh fritillary (butterfly) Narrow-bordered bee hawk-moth Belted beauty (moth) Barred green colonel (fly) Native oyster Grey partridge Argent and sable (moth) Roseate tern (seabird) Great Crested newt Sword grass

Fresh approach to biodiversity promised as six species lost in five years; WAG PLANNING MORE ACTION TO HALT HARM TO HABITATS

Seasearch Wales divers discovered the pink sea fan and the scarlet and gold cup coral have already moved into the Irish Sea from the Mediterranean and North Africa.

Exotic corals move into Welsh waters

And the nationally important pink sea fan had shown increased numbers in both undredged areas, she said.

Country Watch

Here and there, various pelagic and bottom fish gravitate to scattered patches of soft coral, sea fan forests, limestone "swiss cheese" bottom and small ledges.

Permit on the wrecks: catch world-class fish where you might not expect them

(34) The neovascular growths typically produce a sea fan shape, similar to the marine invertebrate Gorgottia flabellum (see Figure S).

Sickle cell eye disease