Octocorallia (also known as Alcyonaria) is a class of Anthozoa comprising over 3,000 species[1] of marine organisms formed of colonial polyps with 8-fold symmetry. It includes the blue coral, soft corals, sea pens, and gorgonians (sea fans and sea whips) within three orders: Alcyonacea, Helioporacea, and Pennatulacea.[2] These organisms have an internal skeleton secreted by mesoglea and polyps with eight tentacles and eight mesentaries. As with all Cnidarians these organisms have a complex life cycle including a motile phase when they are considered plankton and later characteristic sessile phase.
Octocorals have existed at least since the Ordovician period, as shown by Maurits Lindström's findings in the 1970s.[3] Recent work suggesting that the Cambrian Pywackia may represent a Cambrian octocoral[4] is disputed.[5][6]
^Daly, M.; Brugler, M.P.; Cartwright, P.; Collins, A.G.; Dawson, M.N.; Fautin, D.G.; France, S.C.; McFadden, C.S.; Opresko, D.M.; Rogriguez, E.; Romano, S.L.; Stake, J.L. (21 July 2007). "The phylum Cnidaria: A review of phylogenetic patterns and diversity 300 years after Linnaeus" (PDF). Zootaxa. 1668: 1–766. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.1668.1.11. hdl:1808/13641. ISSN 1175-5326. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 June 2010.
^Bergström, Stig M.; Bergström, Jan; Kumpulainen, Risto; Ormö, Jens; Sturkell, Erik (2007). "Maurits Lindström – A renaissance geoscientist". GFF. 129 (2): 65–70. Bibcode:2007GFF...129...65B. doi:10.1080/11035890701292065. S2CID 140593975.
^Taylor, Paul D.; Berning, Björn; Wilson, Mark A. (November 2013). "Reinterpretation of the Cambrian 'bryozoan' Pywackia as an octocoral". Journal of Paleontology. 87 (6): 984–990. Bibcode:2013JPal...87..984T. doi:10.1666/13-029. ISSN 0022-3360. S2CID 129113026.
^Landing, Ed; Antcliffe, Jonathan B.; Brasier, Martin D.; English, Adam B. (2015). "Distinguishing Earth's oldest known bryozoan (Pywackia, late Cambrian) from pennatulacean octocorals (Mesozoic–Recent)". Journal of Paleontology. 89 (2): 292–317. Bibcode:2015JPal...89..292L. doi:10.1017/jpa.2014.26.
^Hageman, Steven J.; Vinn, Olev (2023). "Late Cambrian Pywackia is a cnidarian, not a bryozoan: Insights from skeletal microstructure". Journal of Paleontology. 97 (5): 990–1001. Bibcode:2023JPal...97..990H. doi:10.1017/jpa.2023.35.
Octocorallia (also known as Alcyonaria) is a class of Anthozoa comprising over 3,000 species of marine organisms formed of colonial polyps with 8-fold...
the stony corals, sea anemones, tube anemones and zoanthids; and the Octocorallia, which have eight-fold symmetry and includes the soft corals and gorgonians...
known as sea pens, are colony-forming benthos belonging within subclass Octocorallia (Anthozoa, Cnidaria). Sea pens are found worldwide from shallow to deep...
Retrieved 15 December 2011. Bayer, F. M. (1961). The shallow-water Octocorallia of the West Indian region. Studies on the Fauna of Curaçao and other...
that generally have a 6-fold symmetry. Octocorallia includes blue coral and soft corals and species of Octocorallia have polyps with an eightfold symmetry...
Greek mythology Telesto (moon), moon of Saturn Telesto (coral), genus of Octocorallia This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Telesto...
The hexacorallia are distinguished from another class of Anthozoa, Octocorallia, in having six or fewer axes of symmetry in their body structure; the...
2023-03-29. Kinzie, R. A. (1971). The ecology of the gorgonians (Cnidaria, Octocorallia) of Discovery Bay, Jamaica. Ph.D. dissertation. New Haven: Yale University...
; McFadden, C.; van Ofwegen, L.; Williams, G. (2019). World List of Octocorallia. Veretillum Cuvier, 1798. Accessed through: World Register of Marine...
Williams GC (2011-07-29). "The global diversity of sea pens (Cnidaria: Octocorallia: Pennatulacea)". PLOS ONE. 6 (7): e22747. Bibcode:2011PLoSO...622747W...
Gorgoniidae is a family of soft corals, a member of the subclass Octocorallia in the phylum Cnidaria. Nearly all the genera and species are native to the...
order Scleractinia (stony corals; class Hexacorallia) and the class Octocorallia, and in subphylum Medusozoa in three hydrozoan families in order Anthoathecata;...
contains three subclasses: Hexacorallia, which contains the Actiniaria; Octocorallia; and Ceriantharia. These are monophyletic, but the relationships within...
aculeata. Cordeiro, R.; van Ofwegen, L.; Williams, G. (2019). World List of Octocorallia. Pennatula Linnaeus, 1758. Accessed through: World Register of Marine...
Ofwegen, Leen van (2016-01-28). "Overview of the genus Briareum (Cnidaria, Octocorallia, Briareidae) in the Indo-Pacific, with the description of a new species"...
; McFadden, C.; van Ofwegen, L.; Williams, G. (2019). World List of Octocorallia. Umbellula Gray, 1870. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species...
1007/s00427-008-0239-7. PMID 18850237. S2CID 16969737. British Anthozoa (Coelenterata: Octocorallia and Hexacorallia) Evolution of Metazoan Life Cycles and the Origin of...
Pennatulidae is a family of sea pens, a member of the subclass Octocorallia in the phylum Cnidaria. The World Register of Marine Species lists the following...
Pennatulacea Annotated Bibliography and Indexes of the Sea Pens (Coelenterata: Octocorallia) of the World 1469-1999". PROCEEDINGS OF THE CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES...
Medusozoa. Anthozoa includes the classes Hexacorallia, the hard corals, and Octocorallia, the soft corals, as well as Ceriantharia, the tube-dwelling anemones...
species from the orders Zoantharia, Ceriantharia, Antipatharia, and Octocorallia) introduces an element of bilateral symmetry into the particular species'...
; Cordeiro, R.; Williams, G.; van Ofwegen, L. (2023). World List of Octocorallia. Eunicella albicans (Kölliker, 1865). Accessed through: World Register...
cophyton_and_Lobophytum_Anthozoa_Octocorallia "Biodiversity and characteristic of octocoral communities (Octocorallia: Alcyonacea and Gorgonacea) in Cu...
generic revision and phylogenetic analysis of the Primnoidae (Cnidaria: Octocorallia)". Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology (629): 1–79. doi:10.5479/si.00810282...
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