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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).
Red sea fingers is similar in shape to Alcyonium digitatum but is usually blood red or rust coloured. The finger-shaped lobes are slender and can be up to thirty centimetres long. The polyps are white and each one has eight pinnate tentacles which give the colony a feathery appearance when they are extended. [2]
Briareum asbestinum, commonly known as the corky sea finger, is a species of a soft coral in the family Briareidae. [1] It inhabits coral reefs and rocky bottoms in the Caribbean, Bahamas, and Florida, often growing to 30 cm at depths of one to 40 metres.
The wide-mesh sea fan (Gorgonia mariae) is also similar in appearance, but at only 30 centimetres (11.8 in), is smaller, and many of the branchlets do not interconnect. [4] The Venus sea fan is white, yellowish, or pale lavender. The fan is often found oriented perpendicular to the incoming waves and can grow to a height of 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in).
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.
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]
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Leptogorgia virgulata is a colonial coral averaging about 20 cm (8 in) in height, usually between 15 and 60 cm as an adult, but sometimes reaching 1 metre (3.3 ft). It does not have the rigid calcium carbonate skeleton possessed by the true corals but its stalks have an internal, axial skeleton which is stiffened by sclerites and covered by an outer layer, the coenenchyme.