Briareum

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Briareum
Briareum sp.

Briareum sp.

Systematics
Trunk : Cnidarians (Cnidaria)
Class : Flower animals (anthozoa)
Subclass : Octocorallia
Order : Soft corals (Alcyonacea)
Family : Briareidae
Genre : Briareum
Scientific name
Briareum
de Blainville , 1830
Briareum asbestinum in Sea aquarium Prague

Briareum is a genus of soft corals (Alcyonacea). It belongs to the monogeneric family Briareidae. The crust-like shape is similar to the tube corals (Stolonifera). Due to its skeletal structure, Briareum belongs to the group of calcareous corals (Scleraxonia) and thus to the gorgonians .

Some species are also popular as pets in saltwater aquariums .

features

The colonies of the only Atlantic species, Briareum asbestinum, grow crusty or finger-shaped, those of the Indo-Pacific species have crusty, finger-shaped or cylindrical branches. The cylindrical branches can be hollow inside. The majority of their sclerites are spindle-shaped, some of them are branched. On the sclerites, low or high, spiky tubercles are present in relatively distinct belts. The basal layer generally contains multi-branched, network-like and overgrown forms with very high, complex tubercles. The sclerites of the medulla (marrow) are magenta colored , those of the cortex (cortex) are magenta colored or colorless. Only in Briareum violaceum are the sclerites of both layers of the coenenchyma magenta colored.

Briareum , like all of its relatives from the Octocorallia subclass , has polyps with eight pinnate tentacles . The gastric space is also divided into eight chambers by eight longitudinal walls (mesenteries). The polyps are brown in color and can be completely withdrawn into the magenta colored bark of the coral ( coenenchyma ).

Habitat and way of life

Briareum are zooxanthelle species, their habitat is therefore limited to shallow, sun-drenched water zones ( euphotic zone ).

Briareum is fast-growing and can cover large areas through asexual reproduction. They also reproduce sexually by releasing sperm and egg cells into the open water. The egg cells are approximately one millimeter in diameter and are red.

species

According to Samimi-Namin and van Ofwegen, the genus comprises four species from the Indo-Pacific and one species from the Atlantic :

The World Register of Marine Species also names three other species:

  • Briareum contortum ( Kükenthal , 1906), after Samimi-Namin and van Ofwegen Alcyonium (Erythropodium) contortum
  • Briareum palmachristi Duchassaing & Michelotti , 1860
  • Briareum frielei Koren & Danielssen , 1883 (taxon inquirendum)

literature

  • SA Fosså, & AJ Nilsen: Coral Reef Aquarium, Volume 4, Birgit Schmettkamp Verlag, Bornheim, ISBN 3-928819-05-4

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Kaveh Samimi-Namin, Leen P. van Ofwegen: Overview of the genus Briareum (Cnidaria, Octocorallia, Briareidae) in the Indo-Pacific, with the description of a new species. In: Zookeys. 2016 (557), pp. 1-44. PMC 4740834 (free full text).
  2. ↑ World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS): Briareum Blainville, 1834

Web links

Commons : Briareum  - collection of images, videos and audio files