Gorgonian corals or the more popular term of Sea fans can be found world wide in temperate waters ,sub-tropical waters and tropical waters .They come from the genus Gorgonia in the order of Alcyonacea and in the family of Gorgoniidae.There are soft corals which has a trademark of not producing calcium carbonate like hard corals do.
There are some 500 species of Gorgonian corals globally.Mauritius certainly has no lack of Gorgonian coral species ,many sub-tropical and tropical species have quite diverse shapes and sizes .
Written by Jean-Yves Bignoux/photos Jean-Yves Bignoux ,Canon EOS 7D ,Ikelite underwater housing DS160 Ikelite flash , Nikon D300 ./Republic of Mauritius/Republique de Maurice.
Linley Bignoux-English Teacher/ Photographer 