page_title: Actinoptilum
section_title: Behaviour and ecology
hierarchical_section_title: Actinoptilum / Behaviour and ecology
caption_attribution_description: English: Pierre's armina feeding on purple sea pen Actinoptilum molle off Windmill beach, Simon's Town
context_page_description: Actinoptilum is a genus of sea pen in the family Echinoptilidae. It is monotypic with a single species, Actinoptilum molle, commonly known as the radial sea pen or purple sea pen, which is found off the coasts of South Africa.
context_section_description: Predated on by Pierre's armina. The short peduncle is easily uprooted and specimens may be found lying loose on the sand after rough weather. They are also sometimes found almost entirely buried in the sand. It may exhibit bioluminescence when agitated.
caption: Pierre's armina feeding on  an uprooted A. molle, Windmill beach offshore reef
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "", "Image Make": "SONY", "Image Model": "DSC-P10", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop Elements 8.0 Windows", "Image DateTime": "2011:07:05 16:10:53", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image PrintIM": "[80, 114, 105, 110, 116, 73, 77, 0, 48, 50, 53, 48, 0, 0, 2, 0, 2, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0]", "Image ExifOffset": "304", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "838", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "8871", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/250", "EXIF FNumber": "14/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "100", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2006:03:18 14:21:18", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2006:03:18 14:21:18", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "-7/10", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Spot", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash fired, compulsory flash mode, return light detected", "EXIF FocalLength": "79/10", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1001", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "850", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "712", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Manual Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard"}