Soft Corals of the Family Alcyoniidae, pt. 1

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Soft Corals of the Family Alcyoniidae, pt. 1

To: Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6

By Bob Fenner

Sarcophyton

Most of the commonly offered species require strong water movement, good lighting, frequent water changes, excellent skimming... and occasional vitamin soaked faux plankton feeding to excel. Genera, species are identified by sampling, sorting small internal hard sclerite parts; as to shape, size, preponderance... Hence, as always, my IDs here are tentative (at best).

Genus Alcyonium: Dead Man's Fingers, Hand Corals. Cold water species.

Alcyonium sp. Coldwater species from the N. Atlantic.

Genus Cladiella: Cauliflower, Tree Leather Coral. Knobby lobes on stalks that are low, hard to make out. Small, uniform polyps can quickly withdraw into the surface.

Cladiella sp. Common, but never abundant where found in the Indo-Pacific. Not as easily kept as the more common Alcyoniids, not easily fragment reproduced. Notable for their knobbiness and capacity to change color quickly when touched. Right; a colony in Fiji. Below: The same "Normal" and "touched" colony off of Queensland, Australia.

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Cladiella sp. Knobby lobes on stalks that are low, hard to make out. Small, uniform polyps can quickly withdraw into the surface. N. Sulawesi, Indo.

Cladiella pachyclados, Red Sea close-up by Diana Fenner.

Genus Klyxum: /wiki: is a genus of animals in the family Alcyoniidae.^[1]^[2] They are commonly called cauliflower colt coral, or simply colt coral. These common names can also refer to the related genus Cladiella.

Genus Lobophytum Marenzeller 1886: Finger Leather, Soft Coral. Colonies up to 2 meters across. Usually low, creeping... lumps/folds/ridges, lobes... and vary in color... I may very well confuse this soft coral genus w/ Sinularia, others. Surface covered with TWO dissimilar (dimorphic) polyps that are retractable: Larger (0.5 mm) ones called autozooids and tinier siphonozoids that lack tentacles (and dot the surface)

Lobophytum spp. Common throughout its range in the Indo-Pacific. Feed via photosynthesis and plankton. Grow in folds or finger-like projections by folding coenenchyme. Sulawesi, Fiji and Philippines images first row below. Second row: an usually large "patch" of colonies on the reef lip (at the top of the slope), and two close-ups in the Red Sea.


Verticals (Full/Cover Page Sizes Available)

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Lobophytum sp. Indo-Pacific Sea Hand. to about six inches. Needs dim light, to be fed planktonic food at night. Looks like a lump by day, with enlargement, extension of elongated, clear polyps by night. Two pix from Fiji at night.

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Lobophytum sp. (4...). Lobed Leather Coral. Made of several robust lobes, closely-set. Greenish to yellowish brown in color. Melanesia. N. Sulawesi pic.

Lobophytum pauciflorum (Ehrenberg 1852), Devil's Hand Soft Coral. Indo-West Pacific, including the Red Sea. Low stalked w/ large capitulum (head). Numerous (yellowish) polyps, increasing on lobe ends. Large grey/yellow colonies; common in shallows, reef slopes. Red Sea 2019.

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To: Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6

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