sea fan

noun

: any of various gorgonian corals (especially genus Gorgonia) with a compressed fan-shaped skeleton

especially : either of two (Gorgonia ventalina and G. flabellum) of Florida, the Caribbean, and the West Indies

Examples of sea fan in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Swim toward the white buoy at Rockley Beach, in the southwest, where sea fans sway and blue barber fish play among coral. —Patrick Scott, New York Times, 16 Jan. 2025

The best dive sites are scattered around the Rancheria, Canales, and Contreras islands, home to a dazzling array of aquatic life: colorful sea fans, white-tip sharks, loggerhead turtles, and one of the largest reefs in Central America. —Siobhan Reid, Condé Nast Traveler, 16 May 2024

Bright sunlight filtered through the turquoise water, and a sea fan swayed in the current. —Washington Post, 25 June 2021

What’s left of the Mandalay is spread out in about 12 feet of aquarium-clear water, home to schools of colorful fish, gaudy purple sea fans and all sorts of reef flora and fauna. —Bonnie Gross, sun-sentinel.com, 20 June 2019

Looking at the patterns of sessile, or immobile, species like corals, macroalgae, sponges, and gorgonians—a type of coral that includes sea fans—the team found that animals living in deeper waters were likely to have longer lives. —National Geographic, 31 Mar. 2018

The massive wreck proved to be a snorkeling wonderland, sheltering a profusion of colorful corals, sea fans and fish. —Doug Hansen, The Seattle Times, 23 Feb. 2018

Rays of sunlight burst down on reefs that were surging with life like underwater cities, including brilliantly colored sea fans and flamingo tongues. —Tony Perrottet, New York Times, 2 Jan. 2018

Word History

First Known Use

1633, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for sea fan

• afghan
• bedpan
• began
• caveman
• chapin
• crankpin
• cyan
• deadpan
• dextran
• divan
• doorman
• fishman

Kids Definition

sea fan

noun

: any of various invertebrate sea animals that form fan-shaped colonies and are coelenterates related to the corals and sea anemones