Dendrophylliidae
| Dendrophylliidae | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Star coral |
||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||
|
||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||
| Dendrophylliidae | ||||||||||
| Gray , 1847 |
The Dendrophylliidae ( Gr . Dendron = tree, phyllon = leaf) are a family of hard corals (Scleractinia). They live in all oceans from shallow water to depths of over 2000 meters. There are 166 species living today. 199 fossil species are also known. The coral family has been around for 120 million years, since the Cretaceous Period .
Most of the species of Dendrophylliidae are therefore ahermatic, that is, they do not live in symbiosis with zooxanthellae and can colonize biotopes far away from sunlight in caves, under overhangs or on the deep sea bed.
They include the star coral ( Astroides calycularis ) from the Mediterranean and the tree coral ( Dendrophyllia ramea ) from the Mediterranean and the Atlantic , which, like the tropical Tubastraea, also live at greater depths and feed on plankton .
The genera Turbinaria , Duncanopsammia and some species of Heteropsammia, on the other hand, live in symbiosis with zooxanthellae , from whose metabolic products they partially feed, and are therefore dependent on bright locations in the shallow, tropical coral reefs.
Genera
- Astroides Quoy & Gaimard, 1827
- Balanophyllia Wood, 1844
- Bathypsammia Marenzeller, 1906
- Cladopsammia Lacaze-Duthiers, 1897
- Dendrophyllia Blainville, 1830
- Dichopsammia Song, 1994
- Duncanopsammia Wells, 1936
- Eguchipsammia Cairns, 1994
- Enallopsammia Michelotti in Sismonda, 1871
- Endopachys Lonsdale, 1845
- Endopsammia Milne-Edwards & Haime, 1848
- Heteropsammia Milne-Edwards & Haime, 1848
- Leptopsammia Milne-Edwards & Haime, 1848
- Notophyllia Dennant, 1899
- Psammoseris Milne-Edwards & Haime, 1851
- Rhizopsammia Verrill, 1870
- Thecopsammia De Pourtalès, 1868
- Trochopsammia De Pourtalès, 1878
- Tubastraea Lesson, 1829
- Turbinaria Oken, 1815
literature
- Svein A. Fosså / Alf Jacob Nilsen: Coral Reef Aquarium , Volume 4, Birgit Schmettkamp Verlag, Bornheim, ISBN 3-928819-05-4
Web links
- The Tree of Life Web Project Dendrophylliidae
- Classification of Scleractinian (Stony) Corals Family Dendrophylliidae