Balanophyllia elegans
Balanophyllia elegans | |
---|---|
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Cnidaria |
Class: | Hexacorallia |
Order: | Scleractinia |
Family: | Dendrophylliidae |
Genus: | Balanophyllia |
Species: | B. elegans
|
Binomial name | |
Balanophyllia elegans |
Balanophyllia elegans, the orange coral or orange cup coral, is a species of solitary cup coral, a stony coral in the family Dendrophylliidae. It is native to the eastern Pacific Ocean. As an azooxanthellate species, it does not contain symbiotic dinoflagellates in its tissues in the way that most corals do.[1]
Description
B. elegans is a solitary species of cup coral. The polyps are mostly bright orange and about 1 cm (0.4 in) in diameter,[2] though a yellow form also exists. The polyp is large and fleshy with tapering tentacles bearing groups of stinging cells. The polyp can almost completely retract into its stony corallite cup.[3] This coral can be distinguished from the corallimorph Corynactis californica, which it somewhat resembles, by its stony skeleton,[4] and from Caryophyllia alaskensis, another stony coral found in this habitat, by its brighter colour (C. alaskensis is beige).[2]
Distribution and habitat
The species is native to the western seaboard of North America, from
Biology
Being an
The sexes are separate in this coral. Fertilisation takes place inside the female's gastrovascular cavity, and the larvae are brooded there. They are later released as worm-like orange larvae and settle nearby.[3]
References
- ^ a b c Hoeksema, Bert (2017). "Balanophyllia (Balanophyllia) elegans Verrill, 1864". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
- ^ a b c Cowles, Dave (2005). "Balanophyllia elegans Verrill, 1864". Retrieved 18 September 2017.
- ^ a b Brueggeman, Peter. "Orange cup coral: Balanophyllia elegans". Retrieved 19 September 2017.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-520-23939-5.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-4757-9724-4.
External links
- Media related to Balanophyllia elegans at Wikimedia Commons