Sea whip

Funiculina quadrangularis

Corals and anemones
IUCN: Near threatened

Usual depth41–1,028 m
Water temperature8–29 °C
Best monthsJune and August
How commonCommon

About this species

Funiculina quadrangularis, commonly known as tall sea pen, is an uncommon cold water coral within the Family Funiculinidae. It is named tall sea pen because it looks like a quill sticking in the bottom of the sea. It forms habitat for several key crustacean species.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Funiculina quadrangularis”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 139 records
February: 68 records
March: 122 records
April: 84 records
May: 229 records
June: 250 records
July: 110 records
August: 408 records
September: 196 records
October: 107 records
November: 45 records
December: 6 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 41–1,028 m · Deepest record: 3,446 m

0–10 m: 15 records
10–20 m: 63 records
20–30 m: 83 records
30–40 m: 22 records
40–50 m: 14 records
50–60 m: 11 records
60–70 m: 7 records
70–80 m: 9 records
80–90 m: 13 records
90–100 m: 6 records
100–110 m: 56 records
110+ m: 1,574 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 8–29 °C

6–8 °C: 1 records
8–10 °C: 24 records
10–12 °C: 476 records
12–14 °C: 189 records
14–16 °C: 90 records
16–18 °C: 79 records
18–20 °C: 35 records
20–22 °C: 2 records
22–24 °C: 1 records
24–26 °C: 10 records
26–28 °C: 22 records
28–30 °C: 8 records

Names and classification

English: Sea whip, Tall sea pen, Tall seapen, Tall sea-pen, sea whip, tall sea pen, tall sea-pen, tall seapen, Tall Sea Pen, Tall Sea Whip

Names in 3 more languages

German: Riesen-Seefeder, Seepeitsche
French: pennatule à rachis carré
Japanese: ムチウミサボテン

Other scientific names: Funicularia quadrangularis, Funiculina forbesii, Funiculina philippinensis, Funiculina tetragona, Leptoptilum gracile, Pavonaires antennina, Pavonaria antennina, Pennatula antennina, Pennatula quadrangularis

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
7,155 open-data records from 1878 to 2025.
Species data updated November 2, 2026.

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