Dead man’s fingers  (Alcyonium digitatum)

Learn about the scientific name of this species and how it fits into the tree of life at Nature Navigator.

Description

Dead man’s fingers is a colonial soft coral that forms thick, fleshy and irregular masses, which are often finger-like in appearance (1). The colour varies and may be pink, orange, white, grey, or yellow. When submerged, the individual polyps that make up the colony are visible. Each polyp bears eight small tentacles, which gives the colonies a feathery appearance and has earned them the name of ‘dead man’s fingers’ as they appear to be decomposing (2).

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