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 Alcyoniidae.[2] It is the only species known in the genus Malacacanthus.
Description
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
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
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
- ^ http://marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=213058 accessed 18 July 2013
- ^ Branch, G.M., Branch, M.L, Griffiths, C.L. and Beckley, L.E. 2010. Two Oceans: a guide to the marine life of southern Africa ISBN 978-1-77007-772-0
- ^ 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
