Each of these tentacles is feathered, and the creature uses them to capture plankton floating in the current. Soft corals polyps are able to contract and expand, and this ability changes their appearance enormously. When the polyps are expanded, the colony appears soft and fuzzy. Contracted they look more like barren tree branches in winter. These unique animal colonies bear a spectrum of colors.
Many varieties enjoy a symbiotic relationship with the microalgae zooxanthellae.
This algae, as with the stony corals, lives within the tissue of the coral polyp. And, as with the hard corals, the algae partners give a greenish or brown hue to the coral. Some Gorgonians sport their brightest color in their living tissues, others in their skeletal stalks. Colors range from greens and yellows to breathtaking reds and purples. These corals do not go through the shock that sets back so many of the collected Gorgonians.