Each polyp is supported by eight spindle-shaped sclerites, spiny skeletal elements, which run from the stem or branch to the bases of the eight tentacles.

[2] This sea fan resembles pale varieties of the more common Swiftia rosea but is less bushy with fewer branches.

[3] Swiftia pallida is native to the northeast Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea,[1] the Bay of Biscay, Madeira and Morocco.

[5] This sea fan also occurs in deep water on the continental shelf off the Atlantic coast of North America.

[7] It often occurs in areas where a layer of sediment covers the rocks,[3] or on large pebbles lying on a silty or broken shell seabed.