sun-burst soft coral | |
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Sun-burst soft coral | |
Scientific classification
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Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Cnidaria |
Class: | Octocorallia |
Order: | Alcyonacea |
Family: | Alcyoniidae |
Genus: |
Malacacanthus Thomson, 1910 |
Species: | M. capensis
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Binomial name | |
Malacacanthus capensis (Hickson, 1900)
[1]
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The sun-burst soft coral (Malacacanthus capensis) is a species of colonial soft corals in the family Malacacanthidae. [2] It is the only species known in the genus Malacacanthus.
Sun-burst soft corals grow up to 15 cm tall and consist of an orange column with a ball at its top. They are somewhat mushroom-shaped and when feeding have bright orange polyps radiating from the ball on striped transparent stalks. [3]
This species is known from the Cape Peninsula to southern KwaZulu-Natal off the South African coast, and lives from 13-93m under water.
When threatened the whole ball may withdraw into the top of the body column. In between the feeding polyps are tiny dot-like organs known as siphonozooids which are used to re-inflate the colony after it contracts. [3]