Bendy Coral from Thailand

Anyone know what species of coral this is, or even what generic term it should be given?

Bendy Coral

Shot at Hin Muang in Thailand.

Well, for one thing it's not a coral, it's a gorgonian, but I will leave more specific IDs for the specialists

Thanks Luiz. So talking about gorgonians in general, would "fan coral" be a misnomer? ... and "sea fan" or "gorgonian" more "correct".

Sorry, I gave up biology at 12

Yup, sea fan or gorgonian. James & Acropora are the two best tropical cnidarian people around here - send them a PM if they don't show up soon.

So where exactly down the scientific naming and differentiation do corals and gorgonians differ?

Because they are very similar little creatures that appear to act, grow and feed in similar ways.

(had to ask this stuff eludes and fascinates me constantly)

They differ at the sub-class level, pretty high. The formal names for the groups are Octocorallia and Hexacorallia. The Octocorallia are characterized by an 8-way symmetry in polyp structure and include gorgonians (or sea fans), sea pens, sea whips and soft corals. The Hexacorallia have a 6-way symmetry and include groups like stony corals, anemones, zoanthids and cerianthus.