A variety of gorgonians and soft corals are thriving in Augsburg's reef aquarium.
The tall branching corals shown on the left and right are gorgonians.
Gorgonians are corals that form stiff but flexible skeletons out of a protein called gorgonin. Though made of protein, gorgonian skeletons have a wood-like consistency.
The other corals in this picture (center and front right) are various species of soft corals in the genus Xenia. Soft corals have a soft or leathery consistency, lacking the hard skeletons of the stony corals that build coral reefs. The large, flowing polyps of many of the soft corals are spectacularly beautiful. Xenia in particular are especially delightful animals, since each flower-like polyp in a colony opens and closes rhythmically every second or two. The result is a colony that looks like an animated bouquet of flowers! (a still picture does not do Xenia justice!)
The Xenia pictured here have been growing at a phenomenal rate. In the month or so after these pictures were taken, these Xenia colonies tripled or quadrupled in size!