In a joint operation by the forest officials of Assam and Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, a huge seizure of marine life has been made in Assam. This haul includes 50kg of sea fan, a type of soft coral, among other. Corals are listed under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972. Its possession or sale invites the strictest punishment under the Wildlife Act. The sea fans are invertebrate organisms that grown in a fan like pattern and are found in shallow waters.

About the Seizure

The forest Officials seized 14 musk deer pods, 43 body parts of monitor lizards, two kilo grams of broken pieces of musk pods, 1.5 kilo grams of porcupine spikes at the ancient Kamakhya temple. The temple is one of the oldest Shakthi peeths of Hinduism. The officials doubt that the material is being sold as religious or sacred products to the temple visitors.

Way Forward

An awareness drive has to be conducted to make people understand that there is no proof that these are sacred products. They are vulnerable and rare species and they need to be protected.

Is Sea Fan an Anthozoan?

Yes, Sea Fan is an Anthozoan. Anthozoan means flowering animals. There are only 212 species of Anthozoans currently existing in the world. It mainly includes sea whips and sea fans. The Anthozoan species are threatened to extinction according to IUCN.

Sea Fans are Gorgonians

The Sea fans belong to the Gorgonian class of soft coral colonies. Their inner skeleton consists of scleroprotein called Gorgonin and hence they belong to the class of Gorgonians.

They usually have tree like structure. They reproduce through Asexual Budding.

Sea Fans are Octacorals

Each polyp in the colony of the sea fans has eight tentacles. These polyps spread out their tentacles to form a plankton catching net.

Where are Sea Fans found?

Sea Fans are usually found in Bermuda, Florida and West Indies. They are present in shallow waters of all oceans.