Galapagos Species Database
The Galapagos Species Database shares the information about the species from our Natural History Collections.
Pacifigorgia darwinii
coral blando, gorgonia, Soft coral, gorgonian
Colonies with kidney shaped fans branching off from a single holdfast. Polyps are colored white or yellow, and the coenenchyme is colored a dark reddish purple.
Found firmly attached to solid substrates, between 3-26 m depth.
Domain
Eukaryota
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Cnidaria
Class
Anthozoa
Order
Malacalcyonacea
Suborder
Holaxonia
Family
Gorgoniidae
Genus
Pacifigorgia
Species
darwinii
Taxon category: Accepted
Syn.: Gorgonia darwinii (Hickson, 1928) (Horton et al., 2021).
Origin: Endemic
Map of specimen collection localities or observation records for this species in our collections database.
Distribution: Ecuador in Galapagos Islands of in the west and central Bioregions, Isabela (Cuatro Hermanos islets, Tagus Cove, Punta Moreno, Punta Vicente Roca), Fernandina (Punta Espinosa), Floreana (la Botella Rock), San Cristobal (and Kicker Rock), Pinzon
- 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.
- Breedy, O. Hickman, C.P. & Williams, G.C. (2009) Octocorals in the Galapagos Islands. Galapagos Research 66: 27-31.
- Hickman, C.P. Jr. (2008) A field guide to corals and other radiates of Galápagos. Sugar Spring Press, Lexington, Virginia, 162 pp.
- Horton, T. Horton, T., Kroh, A., Ahyong, S., Bailly, N., Boyko, C. B., Brandão, S. N., Gofas, S., Hooper, J. N. A., Hernandez, F., Holovachov, O., Mees, J., Molodtsova, T. N., Paulay, G., Decock, W., Dekeyzer, S., Poffyn, G., Vandepitte, L., Vanhoorne, B., Adlard, R., ... Zhao, Z. (2021) World Register of Marine Species. Available from https://www.marinespecies.org at VLIZ.
- Williams, G. C Breedy, O. (2004) The Panamic Gorgonian genus Pacifigorgia (Octocorallia: Gorgoniidae) in the Galapagos Archipelago, with descriptions of three new species Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences. 55(3): 55–88
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This page should be cited as follows:
"Galapagos Species Database, Pacifigorgia darwinii", dataZone. Charles Darwin Foundation, https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist/?species=7947. Accessed 2 November 2026.