Dead man's fingers (Alcyonium digitatum)
Key facts
- Scientific name
- Alcyonium digitatum
- Common name
- Dead man's fingers
- Category
- Corals
- Family
- Alcyoniidae
- Genus
- Alcyonium
- IUCN status
- Least concern (LC)
- Danger level
- Harmless
- Habitats
- rocky-reef, wreck, coralligenous
- Behaviours
- sessile, colonial, filter-feeder
- Ocean zones
- East Atlantic
Description
Alcyonium digitatum forms 20 cm colonies shaped as fleshy fingers in white, yellow, cream or salmon. Translucent white polyps deploy as a crown to filter plankton. Lives from 5 to 50 m on rocks and wrecks of North Atlantic, Channel and North Sea. Octocoral without rigid skeleton, retracts polyps when touched. Major food of some nudibranchs like Tritonia hombergi. Classic photo subject of boreal coasts.
Frequently asked questions
- Is the Dead man's fingers dangerous to divers?
- Danger level: Harmless.
- What is the conservation status of the Dead man's fingers?
- IUCN status: Least concern (LC).
- Where can you find the Dead man's fingers?
- Found in: East Atlantic.
Other species in the genus Alcyonium
Sources
- Taxonomy: WoRMS (AphiaID 125333)
- Photos: iNaturalist (CC BY-NC)
- Distribution: GBIF (taxonKey 5185175)
- Conservation: IUCN Red List
- Encyclopedia: Wikipedia