Galapagos Species Database
The Galapagos Species Database shares the information about the species from our Natural History Collections.
Virgularia galapagensis
pluma de mar, Sea pens
Forms long, slender bilateral colonies, where from the central stalk or rachis extend lateral rows of "leaves" which bear numerous, white retractile polyps.
Found on sandy substrates and though once abundant, there has been only one sighting since the 1982-83 El Nino.
Domain
Eukaryota
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Cnidaria
Class
Anthozoa
Order
Scleralcyonacea
Superfamily
Pennatuloidea
Family
Virgulariidae
Genus
Virgularia
Species
galapagensis
Taxon category: Accepted
Origin: Native
Distribution: Probably endemic to Galapagos Islands in Isabela (Tagus Cove), Santiago (James Bay)
- Appeltans, W. Bouchet, P., Boxshall, G.A., Fauchald, K., Gordon, D.P., Hoeksema, B.W., Poore, G.C.B., van Soest, R.W.M., Stöhr, S., Walter, T.C., Costello, M.J. (eds.) (2010) World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS). Available online at http://www.marinespecies.org.
- Hickman, C.P. Jr. (2008) A field guide to corals and other radiates of Galápagos. Sugar Spring Press, Lexington, Virginia, 162 pp.
- Breedy, O. Hickman, C.P. & Williams, G.C. (2009) Octocorals in the Galapagos Islands. Galapagos Research 66: 27-31.
You are welcome to download and use the information found in this page, acknowledging its source.
This page should be cited as follows:
"Galapagos Species Database, Virgularia galapagensis", dataZone. Charles Darwin Foundation, https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist/?species=14327. Accessed 27 August 2025.