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soft coral on sand in temperate waters

Was diving a few days ago at Jervis Bay (Australian East Coast - temperate). Water temp 20 degrees C, depth 5m. Spotted this creature in the sand. About 150mm high. It isn't sea-pen (Cnidarian) as it doesn't retract if touched and is wrong shape. Has polyps 20mm long all over stalk. Its soft. I've never seen one before. Took a few snaps as I was sure everyone else would say they knew what it is. No-one does. Is it a soft coral? If so, what's it doing growing on sand in temperate water. It looked quite healthy but we've never seen any others there. I wish I'd taken better photos now :)

ScubaAl
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  • looks like a sea anemone to me. – Karl Kjer Dec 29 '17 at 04:17
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    But given that there are multiple polyps it could only be some sort of communal sea anemone.....and I can’t find any reference to anything that looks like that across half a dozen marine ID text books – ScubaAl Dec 29 '17 at 04:36
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    Ok - found it. It IS a type of soft coral...and in fact is a type of Sea-pan that doesnt look like a pen and doesnt retract! From the family Veretillidae possibly Cavernolaria obesa (at least Ive found a photo of that organism that is remarkably similar). – ScubaAl Dec 29 '17 at 04:52
  • @ScubaAl you can add that as answer and accept it. – WYSIWYG Jan 02 '18 at 11:44

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