Alcyonium coralloides, (Pallas, 1766)
Alcyonium coralloides, commonly known as false coral, is a colonial species of soft coral in the family Alcyoniidae. It is native to the northeastern Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. In the former location it generally grows as sheets or small lobes but in the latter it is parasitic and overgrows sea fans.
Alcyonium coralloides has several different habits of growth. In the Atlantic Ocean it sometimes grows as encrusting sheets over rock surfaces. These are red with white or yellow polyps, sometimes having bare areas from which polyps are absent. More frequently, it grows in short finger-like lobes up to 4 cm (1.6 in) long, pale pink with white polyps. It seldom encrusts sea fans.
Alcyonium coralloides is plentiful in the Mediterranean Sea but less common on the Atlantic coast of Western Europe and in the English Channel. The northern limit of its range is Scotland. In the Atlantic Ocean, colonies are small and grow directly on vertical rock faces, under overhangs and in caves. In the Mediterranean, colonies usually grow on sea fans such as Eunicella, Paramuricea and Leptogorgia, as well as on the tunicate Microcosmus and on coralline algae. Some species commonly colonised include Eunicella singularis, Eunicella cavolinii,
Eunicella verrucosa, Paramuricea clavata and Leptogorgia sarmentosa.
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