Chrysogorgia | |
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Chrysogorgia sp. | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Cnidaria |
Class: | Octocorallia |
Order: | Alcyonacea |
Family: | Chrysogorgiidae |
Genus: | Chrysogorgia Duchassaing & Michelotti 1864 |
Synonyms | |
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Chrysogorgia is a genus of soft corals in the family Chrysogorgiidae. [1]
Octocorallia is a class of Anthozoa comprising over 3,000 species of marine organisms formed of colonial polyps with 8-fold symmetry. It includes the blue coral, soft corals, sea pens, and gorgonians within three orders: Alcyonacea, Helioporacea, and Pennatulacea. These organisms have an internal skeleton secreted by mesoglea and polyps with eight tentacles and eight mesentaries. As with all cnidarians these organisms have a complex life cycle including a motile phase when they are considered plankton and later characteristic sessile phase.
Keratoisis is a genus of deep-sea bamboo coral in the family Keratosididae, containing the following species:
Scleraxonia is a suborder of corals, a member of the phylum Cnidaria.
Holaxonia is a suborder of soft corals, a member of the phylum Cnidaria. Members of this suborder are sometimes known as gorgonians and include the sea blades, the sea fans, the sea rods and the sea whips. These soft corals are colonial, sessile organisms and are generally tree-like in structure. They do not have a hard skeleton composed of calcium carbonate but have a firm but pliable, central axial skeleton composed of a fibrous protein called gorgonin embedded in a tissue matrix, the coenenchyme. In some genera this is permeated with a calcareous substance in the form of fused spicules. Members of this suborder are characterized by having an unspiculated axis and often a soft, chambered central core. The polyps have eight-fold symmetry and in many species, especially in the families Gorgoniidae and Plexauridae, contain symbiotic photosynthetic algae called zooxanthellae. These soft corals are popular in salt water aquaria.
Melithaea is a genus of octocorals in the family Melithaeidae. Members of the genus are commonly known as fan corals and are found in the tropical Indo-Pacific region. The type species is Melithaea ochracea.
Plexaura is a genus of gorgonian-type octocorals in the family Plexauridae.
Dendronephthya is a genus of soft corals in the family Nephtheidae. There are over 250 described species in this genus. They are sometimes kept in aquariums, but are notoriously difficult to keep, requiring a near constant supply of small foods such as phytoplankton.
Leptogorgia is a genus of soft coral in the family Gorgoniidae. The genus has a widespread distribution with members being found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean from Western Europe to South Africa, the Mediterranean Sea, the Atlantic coasts of North and South America, the Antilles and the Pacific coast of America. Species are found in both shallow and deep waters.
Alcyonium is a genus of soft corals in the family Alcyoniidae and class octocorallia. Alcyonium generally called as dead men's finger.
Primnoidae is a family of soft corals.
Plexauridae is a family of marine colonial octocorals in the phylum Cnidaria. Members of this family are found in shallow tropical and subtropical seas. Many species contain symbiotic photosynthetic protists called zooxanthellae.
Siphonogorgia is a genus of soft corals in the family Nidaliidae. Like other members of this family, these corals do not contain symbiotic zooxanthellae.
Anthomastus is a genus of soft corals in the family Alcyoniidae.
Ellisella, commonly known as sea whip, is a genus of soft coral in the family Ellisellidae.
Swiftia is a genus of gorgonian-type octocorals in the family Plexauridae.
Bebryce is a genus of gorgonian-type octocorals in the family Plexauridae.
Clavularia is a genus of corals in the family Clavulariidae. They are often referred by the common names star polyps or clove polyps.
Callogorgia is a genus of deep sea corals that are ideally suited to be habitats for different organisms. They reproduce both sexually and asexually, clinging to the hard substrate of the ocean during their maturation process. Callogorgia are found at depths ranging from 750-8200 feet in the Gulf of Mexico, Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. An array of organisms have relationships with Callogorgia, including brittle stars, cat sharks, and copepods. The nature of these relationships are often commensal, with Callogorgia providing a habitat for the organisms.
Villagorgia is a genus of gorgonian-type octocorals in the family Plexauridae.
Narella is a genus of deep-sea soft corals in the family Primnoidae (Milne Edwards, 1857). They are sessile, bottom-dwelling organisms that can be found in all ocean basins, having cosmopolitan distribution. They have a branching appearance.