Pink sea fan  (Eunicella verrucosa)

This species is extremely vulnerable to physical disturbance (3). In the 1960s it was collected as souvenirs, which may have caused a long-term reduction in populations. Climate change may be a future concern, and damage may occur as a result of strikes by careless scuba divers' fins and entanglement in fishing nets. Smothering by seaweeds and other species may also cause the death of pink sea fans (1). Although classified as Nationally Scarce, this species is likely to have a wider range than current records indicate (3).

The pink sea fan is fully protected against killing, taking or injuring, and sale. It is a UK Biodiversity Action Plan (UK BAP) priority species, the resulting Species Action Plan aims to maintain the present distribution of the sea fan (1). The pink sea fan occurs in the Marine Nature Reserves (MNRs) of Lundy and Skomer; the zones of these MNRs were developed specifically to reflect the sensitivity of this species (1). As the pink sea fan is the host species for the sea anemone Amphianthus dohrnii, which is also a UK BAP priority, the conservation of these two species goes hand-in-hand (1). A project by The Marine Conservation Society is currently monitoring and assessing pink sea fans (2).