''Savalia lucifica'', commonly known as the luminescent parazoanthid, is a form of false black coral in the family

Parazoanthidae Parazoanthidae is a family of cnidarians. Genera include: * '' Antipathozoanthus'' Sinniger, Reimer & Pawlowski, 2010 * ''Bergia'' Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1860 * '' Bullagummizoanthus'' Sinniger, Ocaña & Baco, 2013 * '' Churabana'' gen. nov. ...

. It is known from the Pacific Ocean where it lives at depths of around off the coast of California, but more recently (2011) has been discovered in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

at a depth of . This zoanthid exhibits

bioluminescence Bioluminescence is the production and emission of light by living organisms. It is a form of chemiluminescence. Bioluminescence occurs widely in marine vertebrates and invertebrates, as well as in some fungi, microorganisms including some b ...

Distribution

''Savalia lucifica'' was first described by Cutress & Pequegnat in 1960. The

type specimen In biology, a type is a particular wiktionary:en:specimen, specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to a ...

was recovered from the seabed at a depth of in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California. In 2011 the same species was recovered from a depth of in the Mediterranean Sea by a robot submersible operated from the Italian oceanographic ship "Astrea". This vessel was undertaking exploration and research into the deepwater red coral populations of the

Aegean Sea The Aegean Sea ; tr, Ege Denizi (Greek language, Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος: "Egéo Pélagos", Turkish language, Turkish: "Ege Denizi" or "Adalar Denizi") is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It ...

at the time.

Ecology

''Savalia lucifica'' emits light when stimulated, for example when stroked gently by a finger. In the Mediterranean Sea, this zoanthid uses the deepwater gorgonian '' Callogorgia verticillata'' as a substrate.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3950960 Invertebrates of Europe Animals described in 1960 Parazoanthidae Bioluminescent cnidarians