Sinularia
| Sinularia | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
.jpg)
Sinularia flexibilis |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Sinularia | ||||||||||||
| May , 1898 |
Sinularia is a genus of leather corals (Alcyoniidae) from the coral reefs of the Indo-Pacific . They live mainly on the slopes of the reefs, where they are very common, less on the reef top. Some Sinularia - species can form large stocks in which they are the only coral.
features
Like all corals, they are animal colonies made up of many individual polyps . Sinularia species have a massive body and more or less large finger-shaped outgrowths that can also be spaghetti-like long ( Sinularia flexibilis ).
As with all leather corals, the body of Sinularia is supported by small calcified needles ( sclerite ). The individual types can only be reliably distinguished by examining the sclerite. In Sinularia leptoclados , the sclerites in the colony base are so tightly packed that reef structures up to six meters high can arise. It is the only reef-forming soft coral.
The body of the animals is yellow, whitish or brown. The polyps are the same color. Sinularia live in an endosymbiosis with unicellular, symbiotic algae ( zooxanthellae ).
Sinularia species can be kept in saltwater aquariums. They are also suitable for beginners in saltwater aquariums. They often reach sizes of 50 centimeters in diameter even in the aquarium. Other species, such as Sinularia brassica and Sinularia dura, remain rather small and are better suited for home aquariums.
literature
- SA Fosså, & AJ Nilsen: Coral Reef Aquarium , Volume 4, Birgit Schmettkamp Verlag, Bornheim, ISBN 3-928819-05-4
- AEW Manuputty, LP van Ofwegen: The genus Sinularia (Octocorallia: Alcyonacea) from Ambon and Seram (Moluccas, Indonesia) . Zoologische Mededelingen, 81-1 (June 2007) online
Web links
- Science at Naturalis List of Sinularia species
- Science at Naturalis Sinularia images