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Many soft corals are easily collected in the wild for the reef aquarium hobby, as small cuttings are less prone to infection or damage during shipping than stony corals. Nevertheless, home-grown specimens tend to be more adaptable to aquarium life and help conserve wild reefs.
Octocorallia (also known as Alcyonaria) is a class of Anthozoa comprising over 3,000 species [1] of marine organisms formed of colonial polyps with 8-fold symmetry. It includes the blue coral, soft corals, sea pens, and gorgonians (sea fans and sea whips) within three orders: Alcyonacea, Helioporacea, and Pennatulacea. [2]
Litophyton arboreum, also known as broccoli coral, is a common soft coral found from the Red Sea to the Western Pacific. It grows up to 80 cm, usually on seaward reef slopes or hard bottoms. The color of L. arboreum varies from pale olive-green to yellow or grey. L. arboreum are anthozoans in the order Alcyonacea in the family Nephtheidae.
Variable soft corals grow in small colonies of up to 7 cm. They are mushroom-shaped, having a short stalk with a round head covered with feeding polyps. The stalk is of variable height and may also be absent. The colour is extremely variable and may be red, purple, orange, white, yellow or pink and often varies between the colony and the polyps.
Nephtheidae is a family of soft corals in the phylum Cnidaria. Members of this family are known as carnation corals, tree corals or colt soft corals. They are very attractive and show a wide range of rich and pastel colours including reds, pinks, yellows and purples. They are popular with reef aquarium hobbyists. [2]
Dendronephthya is a genus of soft corals in the family Nephtheidae. [2] There are over 250 described species in this genus. They are sometimes kept in aquariums, but are notoriously difficult to keep, requiring a near constant supply of small foods such as phytoplankton.
Sarcophyton corals build monospecific colonies, typically found in a range of intertidal, subtidal, and near-shore reef flat habitats. [1] Individual S. glaucum corals grow up to 80 cm usually on reef flats, in lagoons and on seaward slopes. [3] [4] [5] Within the biodiverse and productive organisms of the rough leather coral are many ...
The axis is made up of scleroprotein with non-spicular crystalline calcium carbonate arranged in concentric layers. Polyps of these types of corals are connected by a sheet of tissue called coenosarc. These polyps range in size from 1–3 mm in diameter. Soft coral is categorized by slow growth, late maturity, and longevity.