Nagapushpam or Pennatulacea

Some call it a Nagapushpam because it looks like a hooded snake. Actually this is a marine species called sea pens or Pennatulecea. Sea pens are all colonial, marine species. They have earned the name because many species, but certainly not all, look like an antique quill pen. There are multiple polyps on each colony, and each polyp has eight arms, as one should expect from a member of the subclass Octocorallia. In contrast to other octocorals, the polyps of sea pens specialize to perform specific tasks, like feeding or reproduction. All colonies have a central stem.