Alcyoniidae
Sarcophyton sp. on the Great Barrier Reef
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Cnidaria
Class: Octocorallia
Order: Alcyonacea
Suborder: Alcyoniina
Family: Alcyoniidae
Genera
See text [1]

Alcyoniidae is a family of leathery or soft corals in the phylum Cnidaria.[2]

Description

A colony of leathery coral is stiff, hard and inflexible. It is composed of tiny polyps projecting from a shared leathery tissue. Members of the family may have two kinds of polyps; the autozooids have long trunks and eight tiny branched tentacles and project from the shared leathery tissue while the siphonozooids remain below the surface and pump water for the colony. They appear as tiny hollows or mounds among the taller autozooids. Different genera have different proportions of these two kinds of polyps. The autozooids only emerge when the colony is fully submerged.[2]

Distribution and habitat

Leathery corals occur globally in temperate and tropical seas. They are often pioneer reef species and are found in wave-exposed areas of reef crests, less turbid waters in lagoons, on steep slopes, under overhangs and at depths of thirty metres or even deeper.[3]

Biology

Lobophyton sp. with extended polyps

Leathery coral polyps include endosymbiotic algae called zooxanthellae. The algae undergo photosynthesis and produce sugars from sunlight. This food is shared with the host, which itself provides the algae with minerals and shelter. Periodically, the surface layer of the leathery tissue is shed. This seems to be a mechanism for ridding the colony of unwanted algal growth.[2]

In a study on the Great Barrier Reef, it was found that the population of these corals was very stable. There was little predation, low rates of growth, reproduction and mortality, few new colonies came into existence and few disappeared over a three-year period.[3]

Genera

The following genera are recognized in the family Alcyoniina:[4]

  • Alcyonium Linnaeus, 1758
  • Aldersladum Benayahu & McFadden, 2011
  • Anthomastus Verrill, 1878
  • Bathyalcyon Versluys, 1906
  • Bellonella Gray, 1862
  • Cladiella Gray, 1869
  • Complexum Van Ofwegen, Aurelle & Sartoretto, 2014
  • Dampia Alderslade, 1983
  • Discophyton McFadden & Hochberg, 2003
  • Elbeenus Alderslade, 2002
  • Eleutherobia Puetter, 1900
  • Hedera Conti-Jerpe & Freshwater, 2017
  • Heteropolypus Tixier-Durivault, 1964
  • Inflatocalyx Verseveldt & Bayer, 1988
  • Klyxum Alderslade, 2000
  • Lanthanocephalus Williams & Starmer, 2000
  • Lithophyton
  • Lobophytum Marenzeller, 1886
  • Lobularia Savigny
  • Lohowia Alderslade, 2003
  • Malacacanthus Thomson, 1910
  • Minabea Utinomi, 1957
  • Notodysiferus Alderslade, 2003
  • Paraminabea Williams & Alderslade, 1999
  • Parerythropodium Kuekenthal, 1916
  • Protodendron Thomson & Dean, 1931
  • Pseudoanthomastus Tixier-Durivault & d'Hondt, 1974
  • Rhytisma Alderslade, 2000
  • Sarcophyton Lesson, 1834
  • Sinularia May, 1898
  • Skamnarium Alderslade, 2000
  • Sphaeralcyon Lopez-Gonzalez & Gili, 2005
  • Sphaerasclera McFadden & van Ofwegen, 2013
  • Thrombophyton
  • Verseveldtia Williams, 1990

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alcyoniidae.
  1. ↑ Alcyoniidae. Encyclopedia of Life. Eol.org. Retrieved on 2013-09-17.
  2. 1 2 3 Leathery corals. Wildsingapore.com (2010-02-28). Retrieved on 2013-09-17.
  3. 1 2 Fabricius KE (1995). "Slow population turnover in the soft coral genera Sinularia and Sarcophyton on mid- and outer-shelf reefs of the Great Barrier Reef" (PDF). Marine Ecology Progress Series. 126: 145. doi:10.3354/meps126145.
  4. ↑ "WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species - Alcyoniidae Lamouroux, 1812". marinespecies.org. Retrieved 2018-03-22.
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