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Alcyonacea
| Description | Alcyonacea, or soft corals, are an order of corals that do not produce calcium carbonate skeletons. Formerly known as gorgonians, they are sessile colonial cnidarians found throughout the oceans of the world, especially in the tropics and subtropics. Common names for subset of this order are sea fans and sea whips and are similar to the sea pen, a soft coral. Individual tiny polyps form colonies that are normally erect, flattened, branching, and reminiscent of a fan. Others may be whiplike, bushy, or even encrusting. A colony can be several feet high and across, but only a few inches thick. They may be brightly coloured, often purple, red, or yellow. Photosynthetic gorgonians can be successfully kept in captive aquaria. From Wikipedia article at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcyonacea, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Source Data |
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| Rank | order | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Taxonomy (GBIF,PBDB) | Life : Animalia : Cnidaria : Anthozoa : Alcyonacea | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Taxonomic Status (GBIF) | accepted | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Classification (PBDB,GBIF) |
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| Scientific Name | Alcyonacea | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Opinions (PBDB) |
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| Status (PBDB) | extant | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Taxon Size (PBDB) | 13 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Extant Size (PBDB) | 10 (77%) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| First Recorded Appearance | 70.6 - 66.0 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Motility | stationary, attached | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Vision | blind (based on Anthozoa) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Diet | microcarnivore, photosymbiotic | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ecospace Comments | ECOSPACE CODE: 261; COMMENTS: Life history data based on Bambach et al. (2007). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Primary Reference (PBDB) | J. J. Sepkoski, Jr. 2002. A compendium of fossil marine animal genera. Bulletins of American Paleontology 363:1-560 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Common Name(s) | Soft Corals, Lederkorallen, Weichkorallen, Alcyonaceans, Gorgonians, Gorgonians, Sea Fans, And Sea Feathers, Hornkoraller, Horny Corals, Waaierkoralen, Zachte Koralen, ウミトサカ, Sea Whips | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wikipedia | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcyonacea |
External Images
Fossil Distribution
Subtaxa
| Name | Status | Common Name(s) | Fossil Occurrences | Oldest | Youngest |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acanthoaxiidae family | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Acanthogorgiidae family | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Acrophytidae family | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Acrossotidae family | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Ainigmaptilidae family | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Alcyoniidae family | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Anthothelidae family | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Aquaumbridae family | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Arulidae family | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Astrospiculariidae family | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Briareidae family | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Briaridae family | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Chrysogorgidae family | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Chrysogorgiidae family | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Clavulariidae family | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Coelogorgiidae family | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Coralliidae family | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Cornulariidae family | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Corymbophytidae family | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Dendrobrachiidae family | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Ellisellidae family | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Gorgoniidae family | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 2 | 472 Ma Early/Lower Ordovician | 0 Ma Extant | |
| Haimeidae family | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Ifalukellidae family | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Isididae family | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 25 | 70.6 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous | 0 Ma Extant | |
| Keroeididae family | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Leptophytidae family | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Maasellidae family | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Melithaeidae family | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Nephtheidae family | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 2 | 0.01 Ma Pleistocene | 0 Ma Extant | |
| Nidaliidae family | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Paragorgiidae family | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Paralcyoniidae family | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Paramuriceidae family | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Parasphaerascleridae family | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Parisididae family | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Plexauridae family | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 1 | 33.9 Ma Oligocene | 0 Ma Extant | |
| Primnoidae family | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Pseudogorgiidae family | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Semperinidae family | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Siphonogorgiidae family | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Spongiodermidae family | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Subergorgiidae family | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Taiaroidae family | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Tubiporidae family | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Victorgorgiidae family | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Viguieriotidae family | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Xeniidae family | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Atractosella ✝ genus | doubtful (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | ||||
| Haimeia genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Nephthea genus | listed (PBDB) | 0 Ma Extant | |||
| Nephtya ✝ genus | listed (PBDB) | ||||
| Ojeda genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Tubipora genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 14 | 11.6 Ma Miocene | 0 Ma Extant | |
Synonymy List
| Year | Name and Author |
|---|---|
| 1816 | Alcyonacea Lamouroux |
| 2000 | Alcyonacea Veron p. 406 |
| 2002 | Alcyonacea Sepkoski, Jr. |
References
Data courtesy of: PBDB: The Paleobiology Database, Creative Commons CC-BY licenced. , GBIF: the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, various licences, iDigBio, various licences, and EOL: The Encyclopedia of Life (Open Data Public Domain). Because fossils are made of minerals too!
