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Order ALCYONACEA Lamouroux, 1816

Introduction

Members of the order Alcyonacea, commonly known as soft corals, are sessile colonial animals that comprise of both feeding polyps (autozooids), with eight pinnate tentacles, and modified water-pumping polyps (syphonozooids). Soft corals do not produce the skeleton that hard corals do, but are supported by numerous, small calcareous spicules embedded in their tissues. Some spicules have an internal axis of protein or calcium carbonate, but in a different crystal structure from the limestone of hard corals. The shape of spicules is a critical character for distinguishing species.

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History of changes

Note that this list may be incomplete for dates prior to September 2013.
Published As part of group Action Date Action Type Compiler(s)
05-Aug-2022 OCTOCORALLIA Haeckel, 1866 13-Aug-2013 MOVED Dr Phil Alderslade
05-Aug-2022 29-Sep-2010 MODIFIED
12-Feb-2010 (import)