Belongs to Order Alcyonacea and includes flowery soft corals (Family Nephtheidae) as well as leathery soft corals (Family Alcyoniidae).
Soft corals are colonies of tiny, individual polyps linked to one another. Soft corals can look like branching bushes or trees. They may also be flatter and look like mushrooms. When exposed at low tide, they often flop over and look like a pile of jelly or fried eggs! When submerged, however, they expand into beautiful plant-like forms, and some appear ‘furry’ as the tiny polyps expand.
Unlike hard coral polyps that have 6 (or multiple of 6) tentacles, soft coral polyps have 8 (or multiple of 8) tentacles that are pinnate (branched or feathery).
Although there are some exceptions, many soft corals don’t produce a hard skeleton. Instead in colonial soft corals, the polyps are connected by a shared tissue.
Most soft corals feed on plankton, some also feed on finer particles. Many soft corals also harbour microscopic, zooxanthellae alage within their bodies that undergo photosynthesis to produce food from sunlight which is shared with the host soft coral.
Source: Wikipedia
