Elisella sp. - Broome Sea fan
This Elisella specimen in a red flame form is a rare species of gorgonian from Leptogorgia family, found in the coast of Broome, Northwestern Australia.
Gorgons, like corals, are animals living in the form of sessile colonial polyps, organized in a tree structure. The general structure, a skeleton both flexible and hard, called gorgonin does not grow towards the sun - it does not require light to develop -, but perpendicular to the current, to filter a maximum of water flow.
These are beautiful colored specimens!