About Clavularia crassa (Milne Edwards, 1848)
Clavularia crassa forms small colonies that grow from a shared stolon, typically holding up to around fifty individual polyps. The stolon grows along the surface of the substrate; both the stolon and the bases of the polyps are orangish-brown. Each individual polyp reaches a maximum length of 10 mm (0.4 in) and maximum width of 2 mm (0.1 in). The polyp's column is slender and creamy-white, and it bears eight long, feathery tentacles that are either transparent white, or colourless flecked with white. The oral surface of the polyp is stiffened by calcareous sclerites.
This species can be confused with two other soft corals: Cornularia cornucopiae and Sarcodictyon catenatum. C. cornucopiae has shorter polyps and narrower stolons, and its tissues do not contain sclerites. S. catenatum has much smaller polyps, and its thick, clearly visible stolon is brick red.
Clavularia crassa is distributed in the Mediterranean Sea and nearby areas of the eastern Atlantic Ocean, including the coasts of Portugal and Algeria. It grows in locations with moderate to high water movement, at depths ranging from approximately 1 metre (3 ft) to 33 metres (100 ft).
