Sapling soft corals
| Sapling soft corals | ||||||||||
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Dendronephthya klunzingeri |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||
| Nephtheidae | ||||||||||
| Gray , 1862 |
The sapling soft corals (Nephtheidae) are a family of soft corals (Alcyonacea). They are animal colonies made up of many individual polyps . Sapling soft corals are found in the Indo-Pacific and Red Sea .
features
They grow branched like trees. Like all animals from the lower class (Alcyonaria), the single polyp has eight feathered tentacles, and the gastric space is divided into eight chambers by eight longitudinal walls (mesenteries).
In contrast to the hard corals (Scleractinia) from the subclass Hexacorallia , soft corals do not have a solid calcareous skeleton, but rather have small calcified needles ( sclerites ) in their bodies as strengthening elements .
Way of life
Many sapling soft corals from the shallow water live in an endosymbiosis with unicellular, symbiotic algae ( zooxanthellae ). They are predominantly brown or greenish in color. The species that live in the deeper water of the outer reefs or in caves are often brightly reddish or yellow in color. They live on phytoplankton . There is no symbiosis with zooxanthellae.
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Genera
- Anthomarter
- Capnella Gray, 1869
- Chromonephthea Ofwegen, 2005
- Dendronephthya Kuekenthal, 1905
- Eunephthya Verrill, 1869
- Lemnalia Gray, 1868
- Neospongodes Kükenthal, 1903
- Nephthea Audouin, 1826
- Scleronephthya Studer, 1887
- Spongodes Lesson, 1833
- Umbellulifera Thomson & Dean, 1931
Aquarium keeping
Sapling soft corals from shallow water, such as the Kenya sapling ( Capnella sp. ), Can be kept in saltwater aquariums and are easier to keep for beginners than stony corals . They multiply strongly and can form large populations in a short time. In contrast, the keeping of the colorful forms like Dendronephthya has only been successful for a short time. A lack of food causes the corals to look after and die off after a short time.
literature
- K. Fabricius & P. Alderslade: Soft Corals and Sea Fans. Australian Institute of Marine Science, 2001, ISBN 0-642-322104
