Type locality.— Mediterranean, off

Type locality.— Mediterranean, off Marseille, in 140 fm.
Diagnosis.— Colony tall, up to 1 m or more, sparsely branched with long flexible
branches disposed irregularly on all sides of the stem and lower order branches, but
occasionally uniserially arranged with three or four branches in a row. Branch angles
variable, but often close to 90º.
Spines on branchlets conical, smooth-surfaced; acute; usually 0.2 mm or more tall
(range 0.16 to 0.28 mm); mostly in four to six rows (as seen from one view); 0.5-0.8
mm apart, and with two or three spines per millimeter in each row.
Polyps typically 2.0 to 2.4 mm in transverse diameter (maximum size about 3 mm;
minimum size about 1.3 mm), arranged in a single series on the smallest branchlets
but in multiple series on the larger branches; 1-1.2 mm apart. Three to four polyps per
centimeter on the branchlets.
Description of the neotype.— The neotype is a relatively small specimen (fig. 1a)
without a basal holdfast. The main stem is 16 cm long and about 3 mm in diameter at
its basal end. The branching is very loose and irregular, with several very long
branches up to 40 cm long. A branch 23 cm long is about 0.9 mm in diameter at its
basal end. The branches are spaced varying distances apart, mostly 2-3 cm or more.
The distal branch angles are 70-90º.
The spines (figs 2a-c) are conical, acute, smooth surfaced, and slightly inclined distally.
On branchlets 0.4-0.8 mm in diameter the polypar spines reach a maximum size
of about 0.2 mm (as measured from middle of base to apex), and the abpolypar spines
are 0.02 to 0.05 mm shorter. Four to six longitudinal rows of spines can be seen in one
lateral view (excluding rows in which the spines are only partially visible). Within each
row the spines are 0.5-0.7 mm apart, resulting in two to three per millimeter.