This christmas tree isn’t a tree at all, it’s a worm living under this coral. It will keep its delicate blue crowns exposed like this to catch food and breathe until it detects something nearby, and then will quickly retract into the coral. This one let me get close enough for a shot with my camera before deciding I was too close and going away to hide.
Some type of soft coral? Nope! This is really a feather duster worm, or Sabellidae. The way it waved back and forth in the current on this dive made it look a lot more like a plant than an animal. You have to be quick to get a shot like this. Once they know you are there they will quickly retreat into the tube base they build for themselves, and you’ll miss all the interesting bits.
I seem to be doing things involving combinations of four and one recently. In this case, four bright green leaves and one worm like thing that snuck into my photo. I didn’t notice him at the time, but there he is!
