I am guessing that this sea pen is a species of Virgularia, although that genus remains to be verified. It was photographed in sand at a depth of about 8m in Maloelap Atoll by Raphaël Forns. Raphaël's photo confirms their presence in the Marshalls, but sea pens appear to not be common there. I vaguely remember seeing some in deep lagoon sand at Kwajalein Atoll, and my dive log reports seeing two different species at night on a 25m sandy bottom at Enewetak Atoll on 22 October 1982, but I have no photographic evidence of either the Kwajalein or Enewetak specimens.
Created 16 January 2024