Animal, Vegetable or Mineral?

I was out with the kids swimming over a nice reef today and spotted this red and white spikey thing down a crevice. It is only about 4 inches across in size and didnt seem to move in any current that was present. I couldnt see down past where I took the pic as it was in a hole.

What part of the world? My first guess is a soft coral so I'll leave this to Will or someone else to puzzle out.

Yep, it's a deflated Dendronepthya or Scleronepthya These are soft corals with a spicule matrix inside.

Cheers

James

Wow, you guys are good! Thanks for the quick reply. The photo was taken in the East China Sea at about 1.5 meter depth. There is a huge variety of hard corals on that section of reef but not many colorful ones like the Dendronepthya. Usually the most colorful things are the dozens of brightly colored Featherstars which seem to be everywhere.