Have you ever wondered what a Virgularia Mirabilis is? Well Virgularia Mirabilis is a scientific name for a “Slender Sea Pen”. A Slender Sea Pen is a very interesting animal. By the end of this essay you will learn all about a Slender Sea Pen.

A Slender Sea Pen is a non-toxic animal, but is very fragile. This plant-like animal is harmless to humans. Slender Sea Pens can grow up to 60cm long with a central stem just a few millimeters thick. Slender Sea Pens have retractile tentacle polyps that are fused into small “leaves”, which are arranged in two opposing lateral rows on the Central Stem. A Slender Sea Pen varies from white to a creamy yellow in color. Slender Sea Pens usually brighten their color in the darkness.

                                                                                                                                                                                          Slender Sea Pens live in fine sediments, such as muddy sand or soft sand. Slender Sea Pens are mostly found in sheltered inshore waters or in deeper water offshore from 12-400 m in depth. Slender Sea Pens are also often abundant in sea lochs or man-made harbors. They are located in the Pacific, Indian, Europe, and Mediterranean seas. The Slender Sea Pens population is over 50,000.             

Slender Sea Pens mostly feed on plankton and organic particles. Slender Sea Pens are suspension feeders. This means the Slender Sea Pen uses a specialized filter to strain the plankton or particles from the water. Another way Slender Sea Pens get their food is by waiting for the organism to stumble or be swept up into its tentacles. A Slender Sea Pens predators are Sea Stars, Crabs and Sea Turtles.

In conclusion Slender Sea Pens are very interesting animals. I think they are interesting animals because, they can go up to 400 meters depth in the ocean. Slender Sea Pens can also grow up to 60cm long. Also another think I think is interesting is gets their food by waiting for the organisms to be swept up into its tentacles that is one of the ways they can eat their food.