page_title: Alcyonium coralloides
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Alcyonium coralloides / Description
caption_attribution_description: English: Alcyonium coralloides (Pallas, 1766), formerly called Parerythropodium coralloides Pallas, 1766, Eunicella singularis (Esper, 1794) - Banyuls-sur-Mer, Sec de Rédéris&#160;: 08/82
context_page_description: 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.
context_section_description: 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.
  In the Mediterranean, the habit of growth of Alcyonium coralloides is often encrusting, growing over the surface of a gorgonian. The sea fan has a rigid skeleton so Alcyonium coralloides does not need a supportive skeleton but it does however have spicules in its surface layers which makes it rough to the touch. The colour of the colony is often purple, but may be white, pink or yellow. The white and pink forms mainly occur in deep water and are considered mutants. The polyps, which are usually white, cream or yellow, may be 5 mm (0.2 in) long and are usually larger than those of the sea fan it is  encrusting. It can be considered parasitic as the tissues of the sea fan are killed and Alcyonium coralloides adheres to the underlying skeleton. The mechanism by which it kills its host's tissues is not understood. Occasionally in the Mediterranean, this soft coral exhibits a lobed form similar to Atlantic colonies.
caption: Alcyonium coralloides overgrowing Eunicella singularis
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