Holaxonia (English name: holaxonians[1]) is a former Octocoralliansuborder of the order Gorgonacea (English names: gorgonians or sea fans), or alternatively of the broadly conceived order Alcyonacea. Before 1981/1999, Holaxonia usually also included the taxon Calcaxonia (informal name: restricted Holaxonia).[2][3][4][5]
Since a 2022 revision of the Octocorallia, the content of the former Holaxania has been included in the new order Malacalcyonacea, within which it does not form a monophyletic group (clade) and has no name. The two Holaxonian genera Dendrobrachia a Ideogorgia are an exception in that they have been included not in the order Malacalcyonacea, but in the order Scleralcyonacea.[6]
Members of Holaxonia are soft corals. They 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 Holaxonia are characterized by having an unspiculated axis and often a soft, chambered central core.[7] The polyps have eight-fold symmetry and in many species, especially in the families Gorgoniidae and Plexauridae, contain symbioticphotosynthetic algae called zooxanthellae. These soft corals are popular in salt water aquaria.[8][9]
Families and genera
In 2018, the World Register of Marine Species listed the following families and genera in Holaxonia:[10]
↑ Daly, Marymegan & Brugler, Mercer & Cartwright, Paulyn & Collins, Allen & Dawson, Michael & Fautin, Daphne & France, Scott & McFadden, Catherine & OPRESKO, DENNIS & Rodriguez, Estefania & Romano, Sandra & Stake, Joel. (2007/2006). The Phylum Cnidaria: A Review Of Phylogenetic Patterns And Diversity 300 Years After Linnaeus *. Zootaxa. 1668. 10.5281/zenodo.180149.
↑ GOFFREDO, Stefano; DUBINSKY, Zvy. The Cnidaria, Past, Present and Future (The world of Medusa and her sisters). [s.l.]: Springer, 2016. ISBN 978-3-319-31305-4. pp. 109-111
↑ BAYER, F. M. Key to the genera of Octocorallia exclusive of Pennatulacea (Coelenterata: Anthozoa), with diganoses of new taxa. PROC. BIOL. SOC. WASH. 94(3), 1981, pp. 902-947
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