Plumapathes pennacea
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Plumapathes pennacea | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Cnidaria |
| Subphylum: | Anthozoa |
| Class: | Hexacorallia |
| Order: | Antipatharia |
| Family: | Myriopathidae |
| Genus: | Plumapathes |
| Species: | P. pennacea |
| Binomial name | |
| Plumapathes pennacea | |
| Synonyms[3] | |
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Plumapathes pennacea is a species of black coral in the order Antipatharia. It is found in the tropical Indian, Pacific and Atlantic Oceans in deep reef habitats where it forms part of a biologically diverse community.
Black corals are so called because the main axial skeleton is made of a spiny, keratin-like substance called "antipathin" which is a dark brownish-black. This colonial coral has a bushy, two dimensional form and grows out of a holdfast firmly anchored to a rock. It can grow to 1.5 m (5 ft) tall and a similar width. The slender branches fork at intervals and divide pinnately, and the smallest pinnules are a few centimetres long and close together, forming a feather-like effect. The polyps are golden brown, brown or blackish, the ones on the pinnules being paler in colour; they may make the axis appear dark red. The size and shape of the polyps vary across the colony, with the polyps most distant from the holdfast being more elongate than the others. Each polyp has six, non-retractile, unbranched tentacles.[4][5]