---
title: "Caribbean Sea Whip"
description: "Plexaura homomalla — Other animals. Plexaura homomalla, commonly known as the black sea rod or Caribbean sea whip, is a species of gorgonian-type octocoral in the family Plexauridae."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/caribbean-sea-whip
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Caribbean Sea Whip

> Plexaura homomalla — Other animals. Plexaura homomalla, commonly known as the black sea rod or Caribbean sea whip, is a species of gorgonian-type octocoral in the family Plexauridae.

- Scientific name: *Plexaura homomalla*
- Category: `other` (Other animals)
- Habitats: `sea` (Sea & coast)
- iNaturalist observations: 945
- Wikidata: [Q3273474](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3273474)
- iNaturalist taxon: [206860](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/206860)

## Names

- en: Caribbean Sea Whip
- es: Abanico de mar

## Countries with the most observations

MX (98), CW (60), KY (38), BZ (36), BM (32), BS (23), CU (19), VI (12), HN (11), DO (8), PR (8), PA (7)

## Summary

Plexaura homomalla, commonly known as the black sea rod or Caribbean sea whip, is a species of gorgonian-type octocoral in the family Plexauridae. It is widely distributed in the Caribbean from the Florida Keys to the northern coast of Venezuela. P. homomalla contains the bioactive lipid prostaglandin A2 15-acetate methyl ester at about 3% of total wet weight.

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plexaura_homomalla

## Photo

![Caribbean Sea Whip](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/caribbean-sea-whip/medium.jpg)

Photo: Daniel Estabrooks · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/281542980

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/caribbean-sea-whip?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).