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Eunicea is a genus of gorgonian-type octocorals in the family Plexauridae. These branched octocorals typically have knobby protuberances from which the polyps protrude. They are often stiffened by purple sclerites and some colonies, in brightly lit back-reef areas are purple, though most colonies are brown or grey. The polyps in some species ...
Consequently, the term "gorgonian coral" is commonly handed to multiple species in the order Alcyonacea that produce a mineralized skeletal axis (or axial-like layer) composed of calcite and the proteinaceous material gorgonin only and corresponds to only one of several families within the formally accepted taxon Gorgoniidae (Scleractinia).
Paramuricea sp. Eunicea sp. Holaxonia is a suborder of soft corals, a member of the phylum Cnidaria. [1] Members of this suborder are sometimes known as gorgonians and include the sea blades, the sea fans, the sea rods and the sea whips.
Eunicella verrucosa, the broad sea fan, pink sea fan or warty gorgonian, is a species of colonial Gorgonian "soft coral" in the family Gorgoniidae. It is native to the north-eastern Atlantic Ocean and the western Mediterranean Sea.
Savalia savaglia, commonly known as gold coral, is a species of colonial false black coral [2] in the family Parazoanthidae.It is native to the northeastern Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea where it often grows in association with a gorgonian.
Research has shown that measurements of the gorgonin and calcite within species of gorgonian corals can be useful in paleoclimatology and paleoceanography.Studies of the growth, composition, and structure of the skeleton of certain species of gorgonians, (e.g., Primnoa resedaeformis, and Plexaurella dichotoma) can be highly correlated with seasonal and climatic variation.
It is also found near the Mid-Atlantic Ridge south of Iceland. [14] P. arborea often grows on reefs created by the stony coral Lophelia pertusa. Like other gorgonians, it prefers exposed locations with strong currents. [15] Thus, is most commonly found in marine canyons and on the continental slope, where the slope is steep. [6]
The regal sea fan is found in the western Atlantic Ocean from Chesapeake Bay, Georgia and Florida to the Gulf of Mexico and off the coast of Venezuela and Brazil.It is found on shallow reefs at depths ranging from 25 to 130 feet (7.6 to 39.6 m).