Coral or Sponge?

Could anyone identify this? It is not that common here in the Philippines, and to all intents and purposes looks like lady's pantyhose coiled up on the reef, and is about 4 inches in extent

If someone could point me to a book that was good for identifying these types of animals, as I would like to purchase.

thx in advance

It looks like an egg mass ... of what i'm not sure

HTH

Lndr

I agree, maybe a gastropod egg mass. Leslie?

These look like a typical nudibranch egg mass. They start laying eggs at the centre and lay them in a spiral.

They're actually not that uncommon in the Philipines. This one's from PG.

This is what's always identified as the egg ribbon of the spanish dancer nudibranch Hexabranchus sanguineus.

This is what's always identified as the egg ribbon of the spanish dancer nudibranch Hexabranchus sanguineus.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I agree; spanish dancer eggs.