Devil's Hands Coral

Appearance

This soft coral has an encrusting base with an irregular border, the surface of which has finger-like, thick, numerous or more dispersed and branched lobes. Its color is light brown and may be grayish when the polyps are retracted. The consistency is quite flexible but becomes rigid when the polyps are retracted, leather look like as in Sarcophytons. The polyps are numerous, not tight and can retract. They consist of a peduncle and 8 pinnate tentacles. Presence of symbiotic algae, zooxanthellae. The skeleton is formed of spicules: club-shaped scleritis with large warts and short spicules, elongated straight or sinuous, spiny warts, and spicules of white color visible to the naked eye (after dissolution) for the largest, in the form of grain of rice bumpy different sizes. Size 11-30 cm

Distribution

Indo-West Pacific Ocean: Widespread. New Caledonia, Palau, Singapore, Taiwan, The Ryukyu Islands.

Habitat

Inhabits shallow nutrient rich reef waters and lagoons experiencing moderate water flow at depths between 20 to 65 feet (6 - 20 m).

Reproduction

It is asexual by fission or sexual, gonochoric. There are males and females. Male and female gametes, after fertilization, give rise to planktonic ciliated (free swimming) larvae which will settle and develop on the substrate.

Food

It feeds on the zooxanthellae algae that it harbors and also on zooplankton.