Virgularia gustaviana is a sea pen (order Pennatulacea, family Virgulariidae) found in soft-sediment habitats of the Indo-Pacific, forming slender, whip-like colonies anchored in sandy and muddy substrates with polyp-bearing lateral branches arranged in rows along the rachis. Like other virgulariid sea pens, it is a suspension feeder and may produce bioluminescence when mechanically disturbed. Sea pens including V. Genomic data have been generated for this species and are available in public databases, enabling comparative studies of cnidarian evolution and ecology.