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Eunephthya Thyrsoidea
The cauliflower soft coral (''Eunephthya thyrsoidea'') is a species of colonial soft coral in the family Nephtheidae Nephtheidae is a family of soft corals in the phylum Cnidaria. Members of this family are known as carnation corals, tree corals or colt soft corals. They are very attractive and show a wide range of rich and pastel colours including reds, pinks ....Branch, G.M., Branch, M.L, Griffiths, C.L. and Beckley, L.E. 2010. ''Two Oceans: a guide to the marine life of southern Africa'' Description Cauliflower soft corals grow in colonies of up to 30 centimeters in height. The polyps are 0.2 cm in diameter. It grows as a large whitish colony with side branches ending in bunches of grey- or brown-tinged polyps.Jones, Georgina. ''A field guide to the marine animals of the Cape Peninsula.'' SURG, Cape Town, 2008. Distribution This species is known from the Cape Peninsula to northern KwaZulu-Natal off the South African coast, and lives from 10 to 240m under water. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. Other ways of defining species include their karyotype, DNA sequence, morphology, behaviour or ecological niche. In addition, paleontologists use the concept of the chronospecies since fossil reproduction cannot be examined. The most recent rigorous estimate for the total number of species of eukaryotes is between 8 and 8.7 million. However, only about 14% of these had been described by 2011. All species (except viruses) are given a two-part name, a "binomial". The first part of a binomial is the genus to which the species belongs. The second part is called the specific name or the specific epithet (in botanical nomenclature, also sometimes i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alcyonacea
Alcyonacea, or soft corals, are an order of corals. In addition to the fleshy soft corals, the order Alcyonacea now contains all species previously known as "gorgonian corals", that produce a more or less hard skeleton, though quite different from "true" corals (Scleractinia). These can be found in suborders Holaxonia, Scleraxonia, and Stolonifera. They are sessile colonial cnidarians that are found throughout the oceans of the world, especially in the deep sea, polar waters, tropics and subtropics. Common names for subsets of this order are sea fans and sea whips; others are similar to the sea pens of related order Pennatulacea. Individual tiny polyps form colonies that are normally erect, flattened, branching, and reminiscent of a fan. Others may be whiplike, bushy, or even encrusting. A colony can be several feet high and across, but only a few inches thick. They may be brightly coloured, often purple, red, or yellow. Photosynthetic gorgonians can be successfully kept in c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Family (biology)
Family ( la, familia, plural ') is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between order and genus. A family may be divided into subfamilies, which are intermediate ranks between the ranks of family and genus. The official family names are Latin in origin; however, popular names are often used: for example, walnut trees and hickory trees belong to the family Juglandaceae, but that family is commonly referred to as the "walnut family". What belongs to a family—or if a described family should be recognized at all—are proposed and determined by practicing taxonomists. There are no hard rules for describing or recognizing a family, but in plants, they can be characterized on the basis of both vegetative and reproductive features of plant species. Taxonomists often take different positions about descriptions, and there may be no broad consensus across the scientific community for some time. The publishing of new data and opini ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nephtheidae
Nephtheidae is a family of soft corals in the phylum Cnidaria. Members of this family are known as carnation corals, tree corals or colt soft corals. They are very attractive and show a wide range of rich and pastel colours including reds, pinks, yellows and purples. They are popular with reef aquarium hobbyists. Most of these corals are arborescent and have little knobs on the end of their rubbery branches. The coral polyps tend to retract in the daytime which gives these corals their alternative name of broccoli corals because of their resemblance to the vegetable. At night the polyps emerge and extend their tentacles to feed, looking like little bunches of flowers on the ends of the branches. Genera The World Register of Marine Species includes the following genera in this family: *'' Capnella'' Gray, 1869 *'' Chondronephthya'' Utinomi, 1960 *'' Chromonephthea'' van Ofwegen, 2005 *'' Coronephthya'' Utinomi, 1966 *''Dendronephthya'' Kuekenthal, 1905 *'' Drifa'' Danielssen, 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Walking Anemone
The walking anemone (''Preactis millardae''), also known as the hedgehog anemone or sock anemone, is a species of sea anemones in the order Actiniaria. It is the only member of its genus, ''Preactis.'' Description The walking anemone is an unusual looking anemone, which may grow to up to 6 cm in diameter and 30 cm in length. It has papillae covering its whole body column. Scarlet lines radiate outwards from the mouth and can be seen on the body between papillae. The background colour of the body is pale. Juveniles are pale or white in colour and have protruding rounded swellings on their bodies instead of papillae.Branch, G.M., Branch, M.L, Griffiths, C.L. and Beckley, L.E. 2010. ''Two Oceans: a guide to the marine life of southern Africa'' Distribution This anemone has only been found on both sides of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. It is endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
