This species was first described in 1870 by the French naturalist Édouard Placide Duchassaing de Fontbressin.

Iciligorgia schrammi is the largest of the sea fans and large specimens are much bigger than gorgonians.

The polyps are stiffened with sclerites, which are curved spindles and rods which are arranged as a collar with pointed projections.

[4][5] In the Atlantic Ocean, this species is found from south Florida southwards to Brazil, and in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.

[4] A single specimen was found in the South Atlantic Bight in Georgia in 2007 which is a northward extension to its range.