Ellisella paraplexauroides
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Ellisella paraplexauroides | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Cnidaria |
| Subphylum: | Anthozoa |
| Class: | Octocorallia |
| Order: | Scleralcyonacea |
| Family: | Ellisellidae |
| Genus: | Ellisella |
| Species: | E. paraplexauroides |
| Binomial name | |
| Ellisella paraplexauroides Stiasny, 1936 | |
Ellisella paraplexauroides is a vulnerable gorgonian considered among the largest colonial invertebrates of the Mediterranean Sea.[2]
It has an unusual restricted and uneven distribution, with isolated and extremely sparse colonies in a few sites in the Alboran Sea, the coasts of Algeria and Tunisia, and in the Strait of Sicily,[2] with an exceptionally dense and rich population around the Natura 2000 site on Chafarinas Islands, where its colonies make a unique seascape.[2]
