Infos needed please

[Bayu Ludvianto]

Dear Coral-Listers,
A colleague of mine that is working on algae in the fringing reef here in Bengkulu (a small remote province of Indonesia) came across a particular "beast" that are now starting to cover the old reef (well..the reef is in an early stages of succession after it's been mined for a number of years). It looks like soft coral (I am now expert in coral by the way, I work on foraminifera), it's black or dark purple, spreaded like jelly and when it is touched it's got a purple liquid coming from it (I can attach the scan picture of it  if necessary)

I would be so appreciative if anyone of you could help us out in identifying this "beast"

Many thanks in advance.

Cheers

Bayu ludvianto
Dept.of Biology
The University of Bengkulu
Bengkulu, Indonesia.
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