more vamp! au jordsker doodles below because vamp wesker is taking over my brain right now for some reason, cw for mild gore but it isn’t anything special:
Our first Cnidarians are the anthozoan class Octocorallia. It comprises three orders: Alcyonacea, Helioporacea, and Pennatulacea, containing marine animals with the common names “blue coral”, “soft corals”, “sea pens”, “sea fans”, and “sea whips.”
Like other corals, octocorals are colonial organisms, with numerous tiny polyps embedded in a soft matrix that forms a visible structure. The matrix is composed of mesogleal tissue, lined by a continuous epidermis and perforated by numerous tiny channels. The channels interconnect the gastrovascular cavities of the polyps, allowing water and nutrients to flow freely between all the members of the colony. The skeletal material, called coenenchyme, is composed of living tissue secreted by numerous wandering amoebocytes. Although it is generally soft, in many species it is reinforced with calcareous or horny material. Octocorals resemble the stony corals in general appearance and in the size of their polyps, but lack the distinctive stony skeleton. Each polyp has only eight tentacles, each of which is feather-like in shape, with numerous side-branches, or pinnules. The polyp is largely embedded within the colonial skeleton, with only the uppermost surface, including the tentacles and mouth, projecting about the surface. The mouth is slit-like, with a single ciliated groove, or siphonoglyph, at one side to help control water flow. They are filter-feeders, with individual polyps catching plankton and other particulate matter using their tentacles.
Octocorals reproduce by coordinating a release of sperm and eggs into the water column; this may occur seasonally or throughout the year. Fertilized eggs develop into larvae called planulae which drift freely as plankton before settling on the substrate and developing into the more sessile corals, cloning themselves over and over to become a colony of polyps.
Octocorals have existed since at least the Ordovician Period. The Cambrian Pywackia has been interpreted as an octocoral in the past, though this is disputed.
(source)
How do you feel about Octocorallia? (Remember to vote for your favorite animal within this group, not how you feel about the group as a whole!)
One or more of my favorite animals is in Octocorallia
I love one or more of these animals
I like one or more of these animals
I am neutral about all of these animals
I dislike all of these animals
I hate all of these animals
Voting ended onDec 26, 2024
Propaganda under the cut:
Bioluminescence is found in 32 octocoral genera, a trait estimated to have evolved 540 million years ago and evident in fossils, the earliest emergence of bioluminescence in a marine environment!
Blue Coral (Heliopora coerulea) is the only octocoral known to produce a massive skeleton. The skeleton is formed of aragonite, with individual polyps living in tubes within the skeleton.
Some octocorals contain algae, or zooxanthellae. This symbiotic relationship assists in giving the coral nutrition by photosynthesis.
Many animals depend on octocorals for shelter. Pygmy Seahorses not only make certain species of gorgonians their home, but also closely resemble their hosts, making them well camouflaged. Two species of pygmy seahorse, Hippocampus bargibanti and Hippocampus denise, are obligate residents on gorgonians. H. bargibanti is limited to two species in the single genus Muricella.
As a reminder, Round 2.5 is a redemption round for Cnidaria, Platyhelminthes, Tardigrada, and Ctenophora, as they are phyla which did not make the Top 3 but still scored over 1,000 in Round 1. (Onychophora is also a part of this, but as it does not have any classes or orders, its two families will automatically advance to Round 4 because I can’t do anything with them until then lol.)
Round 2.5 will likely have less winners than Round 2 proper, but it could be a chance to get some favs back in the game. If any groups from Round 2.5 score above any of Round 2’s winners (the lowest of which was 853), they will automatically move forward to Round 3. However, if none of them score above 853, only the single top scored group will move forward. As a special treat, as their last shot at redemption, and to make Round 3 as diverse as possible.
Round 2.5 will end January 13th, and the Round 3 start date will be announced shortly after.
Living in Florida (or anywhere in the southeast USA tbh) and NOT being into birds is like walking into a giant banquet hall feast with every single most delicious food you could ever imagine laid out in front of you only for you to say “oh I’m not hungry” and walk out without taking a bite
uggghhhh it’s like you just know there is so many organisms living in there. like ok so you’re telling me it’s just a thriving ecosystem born out of the death of a huge singular organism? swoons. i don’t know if i can articulate this but nature has created these instances that are very common to find that so clearly display the beauty of the cycle of life and death and the mutual symbioses connecting all organic matter and the value of rot and of bugs and all these little things that are living in this dead thing. nature’s not being subtle at all here, like this is some heavy handed metaphors she’s using .
When decorating for the holidays, why not ask the decorator worm to help? These worms are named both for their beautiful irridescent 'plumage' and the tunnels they construct benath the ocean floor, which are often lined with bits of algae, coral, and shells. These tubes can be up to .9 m (3 ft), and are used by the worms to hide from predators.
(Image: A decorator worm (Diopatra cuprea) by Jim Aguilar)
