Sea pansies are colonies of small soft coral polyps that form a single purple, flower-like organism with petals and a stem. They commonly inhabit shallow, sandy seafloor areas around La Jolla, often living about 15 feet deep under surf wave action. Sea pansies spawn annually from early May to late July by releasing male or female genetic material; larvae float for about five days before settling in sand and cloning to form colonies that remain exclusively male or female. Individuals typically reach a few inches in diameter, and lifespan remains unknown despite study since the 1970s.
Resembling a flat purple flower complete with petals and a stem the sea pansy is actually a colony of small, soft coral polyps that bind together to make one pansy. It also is known as the sand-dwelling purple coral. These clever and fun creatures are very common in La Jolla, often living on the sandy bottom of the shallower areas of the ocean, according to Charlotte Seid, manager of the Benthic Invertebrate Collection at La Jolla's Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
Sea pansies spawn every year by releasing either male or female genetic material into the water in early May to late July like flowers on land releasing pollen. When that genetic material comes together, coral larvae develop and float for about five days. After that, the larvae settle into the sand and begin to clone themselves. Because all the coral in each pansy are replicants of a singular one, each pansy is a boy or girl colony, Seid said.
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