''Corynactis'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

of colonial

anthozoa Anthozoa is a subphylum of marine invertebrates which includes the sea anemones, stony corals and soft corals. Adult anthozoans are almost all attached to the seabed, while their larvae can disperse as part of the plankton. The basic unit of t ...

ns similar in appearance to sea anemones and in body format to

scleractinia 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 mo ...

n stony corals. These animals are

cnidarian Cnidaria () is a phylum under kingdom Animalia containing over 11,000 species of aquatic animals found both in Fresh water, freshwater and Marine habitats, marine environments, predominantly the latter. Their distinguishing feature is cnidocyt ...

s in the

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

Corallimorphidae Corallimorphidae is a family of corallimorphs. It includes three genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological ...

. Large unidentified polyps of this genus feed on the crown-of-thorns seastar ''

Acanthaster planci The crown-of-thorns starfish (frequently abbreviated to COTS), ''Acanthaster planci'', is a large starfish that preys upon hard, or stony, coral polyps (Scleractinia). The crown-of-thorns starfish receives its name from venomous thorn-like spine ...

'' and may help control the crown-of-thorns population.

Species

Species so far described in this genus include: *'' Corynactis annulata'' Verrill, 1867 *'' Corynactis australis'' Haddon & Duerden, 1896 *'' Corynactis caboverdensis'' den Hartog, Ocaña & Brito, 1993 *''

Corynactis californica ''Corynactis californica'' is a brightly colored colonial anthozoan corallimorph. Unlike the Atlantic true sea anemone, ''Actinia fragacea'', that bears the same common name, strawberry anemone, this species is a member of the order Corallimorp ...

'' Carlgren, 1936 *'' Corynactis caribbeorum'' den Hartog, 1980 *'' Corynactis carnea'' Studer, 1879 *'' Corynactis chilensis'' Carlgren, 1941 *'' Corynactis delawarei'' Widersten, 1976 *'' Corynactis denhartogi'' Ocaña, 2003 *'' Corynactis denticulosa'' Le Sueur, 1817 *'' Corynactis globulifera'' Hemprich & Ehrenberg in Ehrenberg, 1834 *'' Corynactis parvula'' Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1860 *'' Corynactis sanmatiensis'' (Zamponi, 1976) *''

Corynactis viridis ''Corynactis viridis'', the jewel anemone, is a brightly coloured anthozoan similar in body form to a sea anemone or a scleractinian coral polyp, but in the order Corallimorpharia. It is found in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean and the Mediter ...

'' Allman, 1846

Feeding

''Corynactis'', like other corals in the phylum

Corallimorpharia Corallimorpharia is an order of marine cnidarians closely related to stony or reef building corals ( Scleractinia). They occur in both temperate and tropical climates, although they are mostly tropical. Temperate forms tend to be very robust, ...

, depend highly on their production of

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 ''Symb ...

e and numerous animals which find themselves trapped by the oral disk as benthic invertebrates, crustaceans, worms, echinoderms and even fishes. They are very aggressive eaters, which allows for them to feed on larger particles in the water column.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2998197 Corallimorphidae Hexacorallia genera