Brown Sea Fan, Pacifigorgia Sp.
Brown Seafan, Pacifigorgia Sp. Sea Fan provided by the commercial fishermen of the greater Los Cabos area, Baja California Sur, July 2009. Size: 23 cm (9.1 inches) x 34 cm (14 inches).
Brown Seafan, Pacifigorgia Sp. Underwater photograph taken in Zihuatanejo Bay, Guerrero, March 2018. Photograph courtesy of Ron Woheau, Zihuatanejo.
Phylogeny: The Brown Sea Fan, Pacifigorgia Sp., is an octocoral and a member of the Gorgoniidae Family of Gorgonians, the soft corals. The nineteen genera within this family are separated by the degree and type of spiculation, along with the pattern of branching and the morphology of the colony as a whole. It is known in Mexico as estrella canalizar arena.
Morphology: The Pacifigorgia corals have one or two fan-shaped planes with a mesh-like structure of variable size. They can be brown, red, purple or yellow in color and can grow to 76 cm (30 inches) in height. Living specimens have white polyps.
Habitat and Distribution: Members of the Pacifigorgia Genus are common but reside only in the waters of the Pacific with multiple hot spots off the coast of Ecuador and Panama. In Mexican waters they are primarily found along the coasts of the central and southern portions of the Sea of Cortez. They are found attached to offshore reefs and rocks at depths up to 26 m (85 feet).
The Brown Sea Fan is poorly studied and very little is known about their behavioral patterns.
Request for Help: This identification should be considered tentative due to the very remote location of the first collection (Latitude 23oN and Longitude 110oW) photographed above. We have found very little scientific focus on this area of the world and therefore supporting scientific documentation is not available. We welcome additional information on this coral from anyone who cares to contact me.