Holaxonia

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Suborder of corals

title: "Holaxonia" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["alcyonacea", "holaxonia", "cnidarian-suborders"] description: "Suborder of corals" topic_path: "general/alcyonacea" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holaxonia" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Suborder of corals ::

| image = Pinnigorgia.jpg | image_caption = Pinnigorgia sp. | taxon = Holaxonia | authority = Studer, 1887 | subdivision_ranks = Families | subdivision = See text ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/76/Paramuricea_copy.jpg" caption="''Paramuricea sp.''"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/Eunicea_sp._02_by_Line1.JPG" caption="''Eunicea sp.''"] ::

Holaxonia (English name: holaxonians) is a former Octocorallian suborder of the order Gorgonacea (English names: gorgonians or sea fans), or alternatively of the broadly conceived order Alcyonacea. Before 1981/1999, Holaxonia usually also included the taxon Calcaxonia (informal name: restricted Holaxonia).

Since a 2022 revision of the Octocorallia, the content of the former Holaxania has been included in the new order Malacalcyonacea, within which it does not form a monophyletic group (clade) and has no name. The two Holaxonian genera Dendrobrachia a Ideogorgia are an exception in that they have been included not in the order Malacalcyonacea, but in the order Scleralcyonacea.

Vernacular names of certain members of Holaxonia include: sea fan, sea whip, sea rod, and sea blade.

Characteristics

Members of Holaxonia are soft corals. They are colonial, sessile organisms and are generally tree-like in structure. They do not have a hard skeleton composed of calcium carbonate but have a firm but pliable, central axial skeleton composed of a fibrous protein called gorgonin embedded in a tissue matrix, the coenenchyme. In some genera this is permeated with a calcareous substance in the form of fused spicules. Members of Holaxonia are characterized by having an unspiculated axis and often a soft, chambered central core. The polyps have eight-fold symmetry and in many species, especially in the families Gorgoniidae and Plexauridae, contain symbiotic photosynthetic algae called zooxanthellae. These soft corals are popular in salt water aquaria.

Families and genera

In 2018, the World Register of Marine Species listed the following families and genera in Holaxonia:

References

References

  1. (2019-07-10). "Mediterranean Cold-Water Corals: Past, Present and Future: Understanding the Deep-Sea Realms of Coral". Springer.
  2. Daly, Marymegan & Brugler, Mercer & Cartwright, Paulyn & Collins, Allen & Dawson, Michael & Fautin, Daphne & France, Scott & McFadden, Catherine & OPRESKO, DENNIS & Rodriguez, Estefania & Romano, Sandra & Stake, Joel. (2007/2006). The Phylum Cnidaria: A Review Of Phylogenetic Patterns And Diversity 300 Years After Linnaeus *. Zootaxa. 1668. 10.5281/zenodo.180149.
  3. Lesser, Michael. (2011-11-16). "Advances in Marine Biology". Academic Press.
  4. GOFFREDO, Stefano; DUBINSKY, Zvy. The Cnidaria, Past, Present and Future (The world of Medusa and her sisters). [s.l.] : Springer, 2016. ISBN 978-3-319-31305-4. pp. 109-111
  5. BAYER, F. M. Key to the genera of Octocorallia exclusive of Pennatulacea (Coelenterata: Anthozoa), with diganoses of new taxa. PROC. BIOL. SOC. WASH. 94(3), 1981, pp. 902-947
  6. (14 October 2022). "Revisionary systematics of Octocorallia (Cnidaria: Anthozoa) guided by phylogenomics". Bulletin of the Society of Systematic Biologists.
  7. [http://www.dnr.sc.gov/marine/sertc/octocoral%20guide/Gorgoniidae_key1.htm Suborder Holaxonia] Guide to the Shallow Water (0-200 m) Octocorals of the South Atlantic Bight. Retrieved 2011-12-05.
  8. [http://www.saltcorner.com/AquariumLibrary/browsegroupspecies.php?GroupID=118 Gorgonians (Holaxonia)] Saltcorner. Retrieved 2011-12-03.
  9. [https://web.archive.org/web/20110713011205/http://animal-world.com/Aquarium-Coral-Reefs/Gorgonians Gorgonians] Animal-World. Retrieved 2011-12-03.
  10. "WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species - Holaxonia".

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