The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources published guides to many threatened animals living in the state.  This guide gives information about the Colorful sea whip, including description, status, habitat, conservation challenges & recommendations, and measures of success

Blaire, Anne

Crowe, Stacie E.

Jutte, Pamela C.

South Carolina State Documents Depository

Colorful Sea Whip 
Leptogorgia virgulata 
Contributors: Stacie Crowe, Anne Blair and Pam Jutte  
 
DESCRIPTION 
 
Taxonomy and Basic Description  
 
The colorful sea whip was first described by Lamarck 
(1815) and named Leptogorgia virgulata. Gorgonians, 
or soft corals, such as the sea whip belong to the 
suborder Holaxonia.  These colonial cnidarians are so 
named because they lack the permanent, rigid skeleton of hard corals. As octocorallians, they 
possess eight tentacles.  Branches in gorgonians are arranged around a central axis.   Leptogorgia 
virgulata colonies are moderately branching into whip-like stalks.  Polyps alternate in rows along 
two sides of each branch; rows are separated by distinct grooves on older main branches.  The 
color of the colony is variable and may range from shades of purple, red, orange, yellow or 
white.  Sea whip polyps are translucent to white.  The typical adult size of the colorful sea whip 
is 15 to 60 cm (6 to 24 inches) (Ruppert and Fox 1988). 
 
Status 
  
No long-term studies have been done to assess the population status of the colorful sea whip.  
However, this species commonly colonizes hard substrata and provides valuable habitat for 
many commercially and recreationally important fishes such as snapper (Lutjanus), grouper 
(Epinephelus), porgy (Calamus) and black sea bass (Centropristisus striata) (Van Dolah et al. 
1987). 
 
The colorful sea whip also serves as the home or prey for several specialized associates including 
the Atlantic wing oyster (Pteria colymbus), brown barnacles (Conopea galeata), a tissue- feeding 
nudibranch (Tritonia wellsi) and the shrimp, Neopontonides beaufortensis (Patton 1972; Ruppert 
and Fox 1988). 
 
The colorful sea whip is only one of many coral species that grow on hard bottom substratum in 
high salinity areas of South Carolina's estuaries and coastal shelf habitats.  Therefore, it serves as 
an indicator species and is representative of the sessile epifauna that form essential reef habitats 
utilized by many economically valuable or ecologically important species.  The colorful sea whip 
was selected over other fauna because it is one of the most pervasive and abundant species 
inhabiting hard bottom substratum. 
 
POPULATION DISTRIBUTION AND SIZE  
 
The colorful sea whip is a common shallow water gorgonian species that occurs over a 
latitudinal range that extends from 60º, from Brazil to the Chesapeake Bay and perhaps as far 
north as the “Bay of New York” (Bayer 1961).  This species inhabits estuaries and coastal sites 
up to 20 m (66 feet) or more in depth (Van Dolah et al. 1987; Blair 2003). 
Photograph by Anne Blair 
 
Research indicates that the colorful sea whip is a dominant octocoral in the coastal shelf areas off 
all of the Southeastern states (Van Dolah et al. 1987). It is commonly found in high salinity 
estuarine habitats where tidal scour has exposed hard substrata (Van Dolah, unpub. data).  
 
 The colorful whip coral is relatively common in estuarine, coastal and offshore habitats in South 
Carolina.  However, there are no known estimates of population size or population trends. 
Additionally, factors that may limit the population are unknown. 
 
HABITAT AND NATURAL COMMUNITY REQUIREMENTS  
 
Sea whips grow abundantly on shell live bottoms in sounds and tidal creeks but can also be 
found on floating docks, rock jetties and oyster reefs (Ruppert and Fox 1988).  They are also 
familiar constituents of hard-bottom reefs, which are a common topographic feature of the 
continental shelf off the southeastern United States. Sea whips are also found on artificial reefs 
constructed in this region.   
 
Unlike many gorgonian species, the colorful sea whip does not reproduce asexually through 
cloning or fragmentation.  Fertilization is external and larvae spend 3 to 20 days in the plankton 
before settlement and metamorphosis.  All recruits are derived from the successful settlement 
and survival of planktonic larvae, which require adequate substrata such as low-relief rocky 
outcrops or extensive hard bottom (Gottelli 1991). 
 
CHALLENGES 
 
Occasionally, the colorful sea whip is damaged by shrimp trawl nets; studies have found that the 
overall effects were a loss of 3.9 to 38 percent during respective census periods (Van Dolah et al. 
1987; Tilmant 1979).   
 
Another potential problem for sea whip populations is offshore disposal of dredged material.  A 
current study is investigating changes in sponge and coral communities at select hard bottom reef 
sites adjacent to the Charleston Ocean Dredged Material Disposal Site (ODMDS).  Findings to 
date suggest that sessile invertebrates, including the colorful sea whip, are experiencing natural 
fluctuations in community structure and suffering limited, if any, impacts from the large-scale 
disposal operations occurring at the ODMDS (SCDNR unpub. data).  However, coral 
populations that are located closer to disposal activities in other areas could be negatively 
impacted with respect to burial or decreases in the aerial extent or damage of the coral beds. 
 
A study of the physiological effects of dredged material disposal on the oxygen metabolism of a 
related gorgonian octocoral, Leptogorgia hebes, was completed in 1992 by the EPA in 
conjunction with the University of Georgia’s Department of Ecology.   The results of the study 
suggested that while coral recovery from single episodes of low-level sediment exposure is 
likely, recovery is more difficult from repeated low-level exposures or single episodes of high-
level exposure.  Both long-term responsiveness and immediate short-term productivity rates were 
inhibited by exposure to sediment concentrations above 100 mg/l [15 NTU (nephelometric 
turbidity units)] (Porter 1993). Because dredging occurs frequently in the Charleston area, the 
potential exists for this activity to adversely affect the population size or reproductive ability of 
whip corals. 
 
Populations of the colorful sea whip that inhabit sounds and tidal creeks may be subjected to 
increased sedimentation rates, nutrient levels (eutrophication) or contaminants due to terrestrial 
runoff from suburban, urban, industrial and agricultural areas.  The physiological impacts from 
exposure to elevated sediment concentrations in nearshore populations are described in the 
previous section.  The possible effects of exposure to eutrophication could include impacted 
growth rates, reproductive ability or mortality (Jones and Endean 1976). 
 
CONSERVATION ACCOMPLISHMENTS 
 
The state’s inshore waters, including sounds and Bull Bay, that were historically open to shrimp 
trawling were closed in 1986.  Sea whips are common in these high salinity estuaries.  Since 
1978, SCDNR has monitored offshore dredge material disposal in Charleston in an effort to 
minimize the effects of dumping on hard bottom reef communities. Likewise, the South Carolina 
Estuarine and Coastal Assessment Program (SCECAP) monitors habitat quality of estuarine 
waters statewide and identifies specific sites with degraded water or sediment quality conditions 
as well as provides estimates of the overall condition of state waters (Van Dolah et al. 2004).  
 
CONSERVATION RECOMMENDATIONS  
 
• Conduct mapping studies of bottom habitats to better define the location of hard bottom 
reef areas that include sea whips.  
• Examine long-term population trends of sea whips. 
• Further investigate relationships with commensal or cryptic species that live in 
association with sea whips. 
• Establish detailed baseline monitoring to allow for a better understanding of the impacts 
of offshore dumping on hard bottom reef habitats. 
• Conduct studies on the impacts of increased sedimentation rates, nutrient levels and 
contaminant levels on estuarine populations. 
• Educate commercial trawl fishermen on the damage trawling causes about hard bottom 
reef species and collaborate with the shrimp industry to avoid trawling near sea whip 
communities. 
• Cooperate with the United State Army Corps of Engineers to reduce sedimentation and 
burial of coral assemblages near disposal sites. 
• Work with communities and municipalities to reduce runoff by improving and 
implementing Best Management Practices (BMPs). 
• Work with partners to develop ways to reduce nutrient runoff that exacerbates the effects 
of eutrophication. 
• Develop and enforce a management plan for protecting live bottom communities in South 
Carolina state waters. 
 
MEASURES OF SUCCESS 
 
Once the information regarding population distribution and trends in state waters have been 
documented, development of both population models for live bottom communities and a 
conservation plan for sea whip in South Carolina would benefit this species. Documenting stable 
population trends for sea whips and other members of live bottom communities within South 
Carolina waters would be the ultimate measure of success for this community.   
 
LITERATURE CITED   
 
Bayer, F.M.  1961.  The shallow water Octocorallia of the West Indian region.  Martinus Nijhoff, 
The Hague, Netherlands. 
 
Blair, A.C.  2003.  Phenotypic variation and plasticity in Leptogorgia virgulata.  Master’s thesis.  
College of Charleston, Charleston, South Carolina. 
 
Gottelli, N.J.  1991.  Demographic Models for Leptogorgia virgulata, A shallow water 
gorgonian.  Ecology. 72(2):457-467.   
 
Jones, O. and R. Endean. 1976. Biology and Geology of Coral Reefs, vols. 2 & 3. New York: 
Academic Press Inc. Pp. 216-250. 
 
Patton, W.K.  1972.  Studies on the animal symbionts of the gorgonian coral, Leptogorgia 
virgulata (Lamarck).  Bulletin of Marine Science. 22:419-431. 
 
Porter, James W.  1993.  The Physiological Effects of Dredge-Spoil on the Oxygen Metabolism 
of Charleston Harbor, SC, Marine Benthic Invertebrates.  Final Report, submitted to the 
United States Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4.  Prepared by the Institute of 
Ecology, University of Georgia.  33 pp. 
 
Ruppert, E.E. and Fox, R.S.  1988.  Seashore animals of the Southeast.  University of South 
Carolina Press.  Columbia, South Carolina. 429 pp. 
 
Tilmant, J.T.  1979.  Observations on the impacts of shrimp roller frame trawls operated over 
hardbottom communities, Biscayne Bay, Florida.  Natl. Park. Serv. Rep. Ser. No. P-553, 
23 pp. 
 
Van Dolah, R.F., P.C. Jutte, G.H.M. Riekerk, M.V. Levisen, S.E. Crowe, A.J Lewitus, D.E. 
Chestnut, W. McDermott, D. Beardon and M.H. Fulton. 2004.  The Condition of South 
Carolina's Estuarine and Coastal Habitats During 2001-2002: Technical Report. 
Charleston, SC: South Carolina Marine Resources Division.  Technical Report No. 100.  
70 pp. 
 
Van Dolah, R.F., P.H. Wendt and N. Nicholson.  1987.  Effects of a research trawl on a hard-
bottom assemblage of sponges and corals.  Fisheries Research. 5:39-54. 
 


Colorful sea whip

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Colorful sea whip

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