Sun-burst soft coral
| sun-burst soft coral | |
|---|---|
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| Sun-burst soft coral | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Cnidaria |
| Class: | Octocorallia |
| Order: | Alcyonacea |
| Family: | Alcyoniidae |
| Genus: | Malacacanthus Thomson, 1910 |
| Species: | M. capensis
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| Binomial name | |
| Malacacanthus capensis (Hickson, 1900)[1]
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The sun-burst soft coral (Malacacanthus capensis) is a species of colonial soft corals in the family Malacacanthidae.[2] It is the only species known in the genus Malacacanthus.
Description
[edit]Sun-burst soft corals grow up to 15 cm tall and consist of an orange column with a ball at its top. They are somewhat mushroom-shaped and when feeding have bright orange polyps radiating from the ball on striped transparent stalks.[3]
Distribution
[edit]This species is known from the Cape Peninsula to southern KwaZulu-Natal off the South African coast, and lives from 13-93m under water.
Ecology
[edit]When threatened the whole ball may withdraw into the top of the body column. In between the feeding polyps are tiny dot-like organs known as siphonozooids which are used to re-inflate the colony after it contracts.[3]
References
[edit]
- ^ "WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species - Malacacanthus capensis (Hickson, 1900)". marinespecies.org. Retrieved 18 July 2013.
- ^ McFadden, C.S.; Cordeiro, R.; Williams, G.; van Ofwegen, L. (2023). World List of Octocorallia. Malacacanthus capensis (Hickson, 1900). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=213058 on 2023-10-17
- ^ a b Jones, Georgina. A field guide to the marine animals of the Cape Peninsula. SURG, Cape Town, 2008. ISBN 978-0-620-41639-9
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