- Dead man's fingers primarily thrive off of nitrogen received from nitrates, ammonia, and urea. It uses photosynthesis to obtain carbon. It is located on hard surfaces (rocks or other algae) in temperate regions, salt as well as fresh water. They are mainly in the intertidal and subtidal zones.
- Digitatum reproduce once between summer and fall both sexual and asexual. Occurrence of reproduction depends on arrival of suitable temperature (54-59°F). Asexual reproduction can be triggered by light, tides or by fusing thallus parts of dead members.
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- Alcoyonium Digitatum, or Dead Man's Fingers, form colonies of morphologically heterogeneous subpopulations. This is the mutation of one species into another based on the enviornment (Digitatum have at least six other subspecies).
- Dead man's fingers' structure is upright, and splits into two equal branches. It has a soft green body that is covered with long tranparent hairs. The branches cut back every season to regrow stronger.
- Phylum: Cnidaria
- Class: Anthozoa
- Order: Alcyonacea
- Family: Alcyoniidae
- Species: Alcoyonium Digitatum
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