| Palythoa heliodiscus | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Cnidaria |
| Class: | Hexacorallia |
| Order: | Zoantharia |
| Family: | Sphenopidae |
| Genus: | Palythoa |
| Species: | P. heliodiscus |
| Binomial name | |
| Palythoa heliodiscus (Ryland & Lancaster, 2003) | |
| Synonyms [1] | |
Protopalythoa heliodiscusRyland & Lancaster, 2003 | |
Palythoa heliodiscus, the sunray zoanthid, is a species of cnidarian in the family Sphenopidae. [1] [2]
Cnidaria is a phylum under kingdom Animalia containing over 11,000 species of aquatic animals found both in fresh water and marine environments, including jellyfish, hydroids, sea anemones, corals and some of the smallest marine parasites. Their distinguishing features are a decentralized nervous system distributed throughout a gelatinous body and the presence of cnidocytes or cnidoblasts, specialized cells with ejectable flagella used mainly for envenomation and capturing prey. Their bodies consist of mesoglea, a non-living, jelly-like substance, sandwiched between two layers of epithelium that are mostly one cell thick. Cnidarians are also some of the only animals that can reproduce both sexually and asexually.
A cnidocyte is an explosive cell containing one large secretory organelle called a cnidocyst that can deliver a sting to other organisms. The presence of this cell defines the phylum Cnidaria. Cnidae are used to capture prey and as a defense against predators. A cnidocyte fires a structure that contains a toxin within the cnidocyst; this is responsible for the stings delivered by a cnidarian. Cnidocytes are single-use cells that need to be continuously replaced.
Staurozoa is a class of Medusozoa. It has one extant order: Stauromedusae with a total of 50 known species. A fossil group called Conulariida has been proposed as a second order, although this is highly speculative. The extinct order is largely unknown and described as a possibly cnidarian clade of marine life with shell-like structures, the Conulariida. Staurozoans are small animals that live in marine environments, usually attached to seaweeds, rocks, or gravel. They have a large antitropical distribution, a majority found in boreal or polar, near-shore, and shallow waters. Few staurozoans are found in warmer tropical and subtropical water environments of the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Ocean basins, but most are known from the Northern Hemisphere. Over the years the number of discovered species has increased, with an estimated 50 species currently recognized. Information on Staurozoa is sparse, and it is one of the least studied groups within Cnidaria. While often neglected, correctly recognizing the characteristics of this class is crucial for understanding cnidarian evolution.
Zoanthids are an order of cnidarians commonly found in coral reefs, the deep sea and many other marine environments around the world. These animals come in a variety of different colonizing formations and in numerous different colors. They can be found as individual polyps, attached by a fleshy stolon or a mat that can be created from small pieces of sediment, sand and rock. The term "zoanthid" refers to all animals within this order Zoantharia, and should not be confused with "Zoanthus", which is one genus within Zoantharia.
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.
Henneguya zschokkei or Henneguya salminicola is a species of a myxosporean endoparasite. It afflicts several salmon in the genera Oncorhynchus and Salmo,where it causes milky flesh or tapioca disease. H. zschokkei is notable for its reliance on an exclusively anaerobic metabolism as well as its lack of mitochondria and mitochondrial DNA. It is the only known multicellular animal that does not require oxygen to survive.
Aiptasia is a genus of a symbiotic cnidarian belonging to the class Anthozoa. Aiptasia is a widely distributed genus of temperate and tropical sea anemones of benthic lifestyle typically found living on mangrove roots and hard substrates. These anemones, as well as many other cnidarian species, often contain symbiotic dinoflagellate unicellular algae of the genus Symbiodinium living inside nutritive cells. The symbionts provide food mainly in the form of lipids and sugars produced from photosynthesis to the host while the hosts provides inorganic nutrients and a constant and protective environment to the algae. Species of Aiptasia are relatively weedy anemones able to withstand a relatively wide range of salinities and other water quality conditions. In the case of A. pallida and A. pulchella, their hardiness coupled with their ability to reproduce very quickly and out-compete other species in culture gives these anemones the status of pest from the perspective of coral reef aquarium hobbyists. These very characteristics make them easy to grow in the laboratory and thus they are extensively used as model organisms for scientific study. In this respect, Aiptasia have contributed a significant amount of knowledge regarding cnidarian biology, especially human understanding of cnidarian-algal symbioses, a biological phenomenon crucial to the survival of corals and coral reef ecosystems. The dependence of coral reefs on the health of the symbiosis is dramatically illustrated by the devastating effects experienced by corals due to the loss of algal symbionts in response to environmental stress, a phenomenon known as coral bleaching.
Marine invertebrates are the invertebrates that live in marine habitats. Invertebrate is a blanket term that includes all animals apart from the vertebrate members of the chordate phylum. Invertebrates lack a vertebral column, and some have evolved a shell or a hard exoskeleton. As on land and in the air, marine invertebrates have a large variety of body plans, and have been categorised into over 30 phyla. They make up most of the macroscopic life in the oceans.
Sphenopidae is a family of cnidarians.
Porpita is genus of hydrozoans in the family Porpitidae. It has two species recognized and is the type genus of its family.
Rhizostomatidae is a family of cnidarians in the class Scyphozoa.
Daphne Gail Fautin was an American professor of invertebrate zoology at the University of Kansas, specializing in sea anemones and symbiosis. She is world-renowned for her extensive work studying and classifying sea anemones and related species. A large sea anemone-like cnidarian species has been named in her honor, originally called Boloceroides daphneae, but recently renamed to Relicanthus daphneae, after it was discovered to belong to a previously unknown cnidarian order. Fautin has published numerous scientific articles and texts—including co-authoring Encyclopædia Britannica's entry on cnidarians—and her publications have been widely cited by other researchers in the field. Among her current positions, she is the curator of the University of Kansas Natural History Museum and serves as vice president and commissioner of the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, overseeing the naming of new species.
Palythoa is a genus of anthozoans in the order Zoantharia.
Metridioidea is a superfamily of sea anemones in the order Actiniaria. Members of this clade live in shallow subtropical waters worldwide.
Baeolidia palythoae is a species of sea slug, an aeolid nudibranch. It is a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Aeolidiidae found in South Africa.
Palythoa toxica, also referred to by its Hawaiian common name, limu-make-o-Hana, is a species of zoanthid native to Hawaii. It is notable as the species in which palytoxin was discovered and from which it was first isolated.
Palythoa mutuki is a species of zoanthid generally found in the Indo-Pacific but also common off the west coast of South America. It occurs at depths ranging between 0 - 28m, being found in both marine and intertidal zones. It was found to hold a higher diversity of associated species than Zoanthus sansibaricus, which inhabits a similar niche. Recent research has indicated that several compounds taken from the ethanolic extract of Palythoa Mutuki have shown strong anti-viral activity towards the dengue virus, which may someday contribute towards a cure for the disease.
Cavolinia may refer to:
Palythoa tuberculosa is a species of cnidarian in the family Sphenopidae.
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