Gorgonia ventalina, the common sea fan (family Gorgoniidae), is an iconic gorgonian coral forming large ornate fan-shaped colonies up to 1 m in diameter in shallow Caribbean reef environments at depths of 1–30 m, oriented perpendicular to prevailing currents for maximum suspension feeding efficiency. The species hosts a distinctive coral-associated fungal pathogen (Aspergillus sydowii) causing sea fan disease, a major threat to populations in the Florida Keys and Caribbean. It is an important structural and ecological component of Caribbean reef ecosystems. Genomic data have been generated for this species and are available in public databases, enabling comparative studies of cnidarian evolution and ecology.