Virgularia mirabilis - Marine Life Encyclopedia

Virgularia mirabilis (O F Müller, 1776)

Virgularia mirabilis

Description: Forms elongated, very slender colonies with narrow "leaves" bearing polyps. Colour yellowish or whitish; capable of luminescence in darkness. Up to 600mm long with central stem only a few mm thick. All sea-pens possess an internal calcareous skeletal rod (axis): in this species it is round in section and often protrudes from the top of the colony.

Habitat: Lives embedded in mud, into which it can withdraw. Occurs in sheltered localities in depths greater than about 5m.

Distribution: All coasts of Britain and Ireland, locally abundant. Generally distributed around western Europe and in the north Atlantic, also in the Mediterranean.

Similar Species: Only Funiculina quadrangularis is similar but its polyps are not arranged in "leaves" and its axis is square in section.

Key Identification Features:

Long, slender form.
Polyps on 'leaves'.
Whitish or yellowish colour.

Distribution Map: NBN map : National Biodiversity Network mapping facility, data for UK.

WoRMS: Species record : World Register of Marine Species.

iNaturalist: Species account : iNaturalist World Species Observations database

Picton, B.E. & Morrow, C.C. (2016). Virgularia mirabilis (O F Müller, 1776). [In] Encyclopedia of Marine Life of Britain and Ireland.
https://www.habitas.org.uk/marinelife/species.asp?item=D10560 Accessed on 2024-09-19

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