''Gersemia rubiformis'', commonly known as the sea strawberry, is a

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 s ...

soft coral 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 f ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Nephtheidae. It is found in the northwest

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

and the northeast

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

Description

''Gersemia rubiformis'' is a

colonial Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French Colonial * Spanish Colonial architecture Automobiles * Colonial (1920 au ...

coral that grows in the form of knobbly clumps. The colonies are erect and branch from one main stalk. The polyps are concentrated near the ends of the narrower terminal branches and are non-retractile in their calyces. The branches are not rigid but are stiffened by the presence of sclerites, and can sway gently in the current. The sclerites are red, some being irregular and shaped like miniature capstans. ''Gersemia rubiformis'' does not contain the symbiotic alga

zooxanthella Zooxanthellae is a colloquial term for single-celled dinoflagellates that are able to live in symbiosis with diverse marine invertebrates including demosponges, corals, jellyfish, and nudibranchs. Most known zooxanthellae are in the genus ''Symbi ...

Distribution

''Gersemia rubiformis'' is found in polar to temperate regions of the

Arctic Ocean The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceans. It spans an area of approximately and is known as the coldest of all the oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, a ...

and the north west

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

from the coasts of Canada south to

Cape Hatteras Cape Hatteras is a cape located at a pronounced bend in Hatteras Island, one of the barrier islands of North Carolina. Long stretches of beach, sand dunes, marshes, and maritime forests create a unique environment where wind and waves shape ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

. A separate population is found in the

off the coasts of

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

and south to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. It occurs on both sandy and muddy substrates, on rocks and on the hard parts of other

benthic The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. The name comes from ancient Greek, βένθος (bénthos), meaning "t ...

invertebrate Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...

s such as shells.

Ecology

Many other marine invertebrates share the habitat of ''Gersemia rubiformis''. Juvenile basket stars (''

Gorgonocephalus eucnemis ''Gorgonocephalus eucnemis'' is a species of basket star in the class Ophiuroidea. It is found in circumpolar marine environments in the Northern Hemisphere. The scientific name for the genus comes from the Greek, ''gorgós'' meaning "dreadful" a ...

'') are often found clinging to the coral and hiding in the interstices. The white sea anemone ''

Metridium senile ''Metridium senile'', or frilled anemone, is a species of sea anemone in the family Metridiidae. As a member of the genus ''Metridium'', it is a type of plumose anemone and is found in the seas off north-western Europe and both the east and west ...

'' often grows nearby and the rock scallop (''

Crassadoma gigantea ''Crassadoma'' is a genus of rock scallops, marine bivalve molluscs in the family Pectinidae. It is monotypic, the only species being ''Crassadoma gigantea'', the rock scallop, giant rock scallop or purple-hinge rock scallop. Although the small ...

'') shares the same habitat in California. In

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ) is a sound of the Pacific Northwest, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and part of the Salish Sea. It is located along the northwestern coast of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected ma ...

, juvenile basket stars (''

'') have been found to be living, growing and feeding inside the pharynges of ''Gersemia rubiformis'' polyps, only becoming free-living when they have grown large enough to catch food for themselves.''Gorgonocephalus eucnemis'' Muller and Troschel, 1842
Walla Walla University. Retrieved 2012-01-25.

Research

Researchers in British Columbia found that extracts of ''Gersemia rubiformis'' showed

antimicrobial An antimicrobial is an agent that kills microorganisms or stops their growth. Antimicrobial medicines can be grouped according to the microorganisms they act primarily against. For example, antibiotics are used against bacteria, and antifungals ar ...

activity when tested

in vitro ''In vitro'' (meaning in glass, or ''in the glass'') studies are performed with microorganisms, cells, or biological molecules outside their normal biological context. Colloquially called "test-tube experiments", these studies in biology an ...

. They identified three novel

diterpenoids Diterpenes are a class of chemical compounds composed of four isoprene units, often with the molecular formula C20H32. They are biosynthesized by plants, animals and fungi via the HMG-CoA reductase pathway, with geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate bein ...

which they named gersemolide, rubifolide and epilophodione.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2006197 Nephtheidae Corals described in 1834 Taxa named by Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg