Plexaurella nutans

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Plexaurella nutans
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Coral reef assembly with Plexaurella nutans at right back
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Cnidaria
Class: Anthozoa
Order: Alcyonacea
Family: Plexauridae
Genus: Plexaurella
Species:
P. nutans
Binomial name
Plexaurella nutans
(Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1860) [1]
Synonyms
  • Campanularia flabellata Hincks, 1866

Plexaurella nutans, the giant slit-pore sea rod, is a tall species of soft coral in the family Plexauridae. It is a relatively uncommon species and is found in shallow seas in the Caribbean region.

Contents

Description

Plexaurella nutans can grow to a height of over a metre (yard). [2] It has thick cylindrical branches that occasionally fork and which are often slightly clubbed at the tips. These have a diameter of 10 to 15 centimetres (3.9 to 5.9 in). The polyps are rather large and protrude from round, oval or slit-shaped grooves in the cup-shaped calyces in the coral skeleton. Each of these calyces is on a slight mound giving the coral a dimpled surface. When the polyps are extended, as they usually are, they give the coral a fuzzy appearance. [3] The colour of this coral is usually pale brown, grey or sometimes lavender. [2]

Distribution and habitat

Plexaurella nutans is an uncommon species and occurs at depths down to 50 metres (160 ft) in the Caribbean Sea, the Bahamas and Florida. It is usually found on isolated patch reefs or on forereef slopes. [3] [4]

Biology

The polyps of Plexaurella nutans extend their tentacles to feed on zooplankton and other small invertebrates floating past. The food gathered is shared with neighbouring polyps via the gastrovascular cavity inside the coral's skeleton. After particles of liver marked with a radioactive tracer were fed experimentally to a single polyp, radioactivity was detected in tissues up to 11 centimetres (4.3 in) away. [5]

Plexaurella nutans is a zooxanthellate species of coral with large numbers of symbiotic dinoflagellates from the genus Symbiodinium living in its tissues. These are photosynthetic algae that provide nourishment to their host while benefiting from the coral's waste products. It was found experimentally that different species of Symbiodinium were found at different depths in Plexaurella nutans and other corals. If the corals' tissues were cultured in the laboratory, other species again became apparent, the growth of which was favoured by the laboratory environment. These must have been undetected in the tissues previously. [6]

Related Research Articles

Scleractinia Order of Hexacorallia which produce a massive stony skeleton

Scleractinia, also called stony corals or hard corals, are marine animals in the phylum Cnidaria that build themselves a hard skeleton. The individual animals are known as polyps and have a cylindrical body crowned by an oral disc in which a mouth is fringed with tentacles. Although some species are solitary, most are colonial. The founding polyp settles and starts to secrete calcium carbonate to protect its soft body. Solitary corals can be as much as 25 cm (10 in) across but in colonial species the polyps are usually only a few millimetres in diameter. These polyps reproduce asexually by budding, but remain attached to each other, forming a multi-polyp colony of clones with a common skeleton, which may be up to several metres in diameter or height according to species.

Pillar coral Species of coral

Pillar coral is a hard coral found in the western Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. It is the only species in the monotypic genus Dendrogyra. It is a digitate coral -that is, it resembles fingers or a cluster of cigars, growing up from the sea floor without any secondary branching. It is large and can grow on both flat and sloping surfaces at depths down to 20 m (65 ft). It is one of the few types of hard coral in which the polyps can commonly be seen feeding during the day.

<i>Aiptasia</i> Genus of sea anemones

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.

<i>Porites astreoides</i> Species of coral

Porites astreoides, commonly known as mustard hill coral or yellow porites, is a colonial species of stony coral in the family Poritidae.

<i>Gorgonia flabellum</i> Species of coral

Gorgonia flabellum, also known as the Venus fan, Venus sea fan, common sea fan, West Indian sea fan, and purple gorgonian seafan, is a species of sea fan, a sessile colonial soft coral.

<i>Leptogorgia hebes</i> Species of coral

Leptogorgia hebes, commonly known as the regal sea fan or false sea fan, is a species of soft coral in the family Gorgoniidae. It was formerly included in the genus Lophogorgia but that genus has been dismantled.

<i>Eusmilia</i> Genus of corals

Eusmilia is a genus of stony coral in the family Meandrinidae. It is a monotypic genus represented by the species Eusmilia fastigiata, commonly known as the smooth flower coral. It is found on reefs in the Caribbean Sea.

<i>Umimayanthus parasiticus</i> Species of coral

Umimayanthus parasiticus, commonly known as the sponge zoanthid, is a species of coral in the order Zoantharia which grows symbiotically on several species of sponge. It is found in shallow waters in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.

<i>Parazoanthus swiftii</i> Species of coral

Parazoanthus swiftii, commonly known as the golden zoanthid, is a species of coral in the order Zoantharia which grows symbiotically on several species of sponge. It is found in shallow waters in the Caribbean Sea and western Atlantic Ocean.

Iotrochota birotulata, commonly known as the green finger sponge, is a species of sea sponge in the family Iotrochotidae. It is found in shallow waters in the Caribbean Sea.

<i>Pseudodiploria strigosa</i> Species of coral

Pseudodiploria strigosa, the symmetrical brain coral, is a colonial species of stony coral in the family Mussidae. It occurs on reefs in shallow water in the West Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea. It grows slowly and lives to a great age.

<i>Pseudodiploria clivosa</i> Species of coral

Pseudodiploria clivosa, the knobby brain coral, is a colonial species of stony coral in the family Mussidae. It occurs in shallow water in the West Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea.

<i>Gorgonia ventalina</i> Species of coral

Gorgonia ventalina, the purple sea fan, is a species of sea fan, an octocoral in the family Gorgoniidae. It is found in the western Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.

<i>Scolymia lacera</i> Species of coral

Scolymia lacera, the fleshy disk coral, is a species of stony coral in the family Mussidae. It occurs on reefs in shallow waters in the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, the Bahamas, Bermuda and southern Florida.

<i>Dichocoenia</i> Genus of corals

Dichocoenia is a monotypic genus of stony coral in the family Meandrinidae. It is represented by a single species, Dichocoenia stokesii, which is commonly known as pineapple coral, elliptical star coral, or pancake star coral. It is found in the Caribbean Sea and the western Atlantic Ocean. Dichocoenia stokesii has irregular calyces and its form can be either a massive, hemispherical hump or a flat, platform-like structure.

Plexauridae Family of 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.

<i>Isophyllia sinuosa</i> Species of coral

Isophyllia sinuosa, the sinuous cactus coral, is a species of stony coral in the family Mussidae. It is found in shallow water in the tropical western Atlantic and the Caribbean Sea.

<i>Favites complanata</i> Species of coral

Favites complanata is a species of stony coral in the family Merulinidae, sometimes known as the larger star coral. It is native to the Indo-Pacific region and its range extends from the Red Sea and Indian Ocean to the western and central Pacific Ocean. This is an uncommon species of coral and seems to be decreasing in abundance, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as being "near threatened".

<i>Millepora complanata</i> Species of hydrozoan

Millepora complanata, commonly known as blade fire coral, is a species of fire coral in the family Milleporidae. It is found in shallow waters in the Caribbean Sea where it is a common species. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed its conservation status as being of "least concern".

<i>Balanophyllia elegans</i> Species of coral

Balanophyllia elegans, the orange coral or orange cup coral, is a species of solitary cup coral, a stony coral in the family Dendrophylliidae. It is native to the eastern Pacific Ocean. As an azooxanthellate species, it does not contain symbiotic dinoflagellates in its tissues in the way that most corals do.

References

  1. van Ofwegen, Leen (2012). "Plexaurella nutans (Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1860)". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species . Retrieved 2012-12-18.
  2. 1 2 "Plexaurella nutans (Duchassaing 1860)". CoralPedia. Retrieved 2012-12-18.
  3. 1 2 Colin, Patrick L. (1978). Marine Invertebrates and Plants of the Living Reef . T.F.H. Publications. p.  170. ISBN   978-0-86622-875-6.
  4. "Giant slit-pore sea rod (Plexaurella nutans)". Interactive Guide to Caribbean Diving. Marine Species Identification Portal. Retrieved 2012-12-18.
  5. Murdock, Gordon R. (1978). "Digestion, Assimilation, and Transport of Food in the Gastrovascular Cavity of a Gorgonian Octocoral (Cnidaria; Anthozoa)". Bulletin of Marine Science. 28 (2): 354–362.
  6. LaJeunesse, T. (2002). "Diversity and community structure of symbiotic dinoflagellates from Caribbean coral reefs". Marine Biology. 141 (2): 387–400. doi:10.1007/s00227-002-0829-2. S2CID   84357806.