Galapagos Species Database
The Galapagos Species Database shares the information about the species from our Natural History Collections.
Pacifigorgia symbiotica
coral blando, gorgonia, Soft coral, gorgonian
The colony forms a single wide stiff fan (sometimes with secondary fans), with thick mesh branches (1.5 to 2.5 mm in width) that are a deep reddish-purple in color and covered almost entirely in yellow polyps.
Found firmly attached to rock substrates on the islands of Darwin, Wolf and Isabella.
Domain
Eukaryota
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Cnidaria
Class
Anthozoa
Order
Malacalcyonacea
Suborder
Holaxonia
Family
Gorgoniidae
Genus
Pacifigorgia
Species
symbiotica
Taxon category: Accepted
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 far-northern and western Bioregions, Darwin, Wolf, Isabela (Caleta Iguana, Cabo Rosa)
- 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.
- 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 symbiotica", dataZone. Charles Darwin Foundation, https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist/?species=7950. Accessed 31 October 2026.