Johnny Jensen, Dänemark
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Plexaura homomalla (Esper, 1794)
The Black Sea Rod Plexaura homomalla forms a bushy or candelabra-like colony of upright branches. It has a tendency to branch in a single plane with a few dichotomous forks, but mostly bears lateral branches. It grows to a height of about 35 cm and has two forms:
Plexaura homomalla forma kuekenthali is taller and slimmer, with narrow terminal branches, and Plexaura homomalla forma homomalla is shorter with more robust terminal branches.
P. homomalla is found growing on reefs in the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, the Bahamas, and Florida. It grows at depths down to about 55 m with P. h.forma homomalla being more abundant in shallow waters and P. h.forma kuekenthali occurring mostly at greater depths.
P. homomalla contains a high level of the lipid prostaglandin A. The prostaglandin produced by the coral seems to offer a chemical defence and act as a deterrent to predatory fishes.
Synonymised names:
Eunicea humosa (Esper, 1794)
Gorgonia homomalla Esper, 1794
Gorgonia humosa Esper, 1794
Plexaura homomalla f. homomalla (Esper, 1794)
Plexaura macrocythara Lamouroux, 1816
Plexauropsis tricolor Stiasny, 1935
Direct children (2):
Forma Plexaura homomalla f. homomalla Esper, 1794 accepted as Plexaura homomalla (Esper, 1794) (synonymy)
Forma Plexaura homomalla f. kukenthali Moser, 1921 accepted as Plexaura kukenthali Moser, 1921 (synonymy)
The Black Sea Rod Plexaura homomalla forms a bushy or candelabra-like colony of upright branches. It has a tendency to branch in a single plane with a few dichotomous forks, but mostly bears lateral branches. It grows to a height of about 35 cm and has two forms:
Plexaura homomalla forma kuekenthali is taller and slimmer, with narrow terminal branches, and Plexaura homomalla forma homomalla is shorter with more robust terminal branches.
P. homomalla is found growing on reefs in the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, the Bahamas, and Florida. It grows at depths down to about 55 m with P. h.forma homomalla being more abundant in shallow waters and P. h.forma kuekenthali occurring mostly at greater depths.
P. homomalla contains a high level of the lipid prostaglandin A. The prostaglandin produced by the coral seems to offer a chemical defence and act as a deterrent to predatory fishes.
Synonymised names:
Eunicea humosa (Esper, 1794)
Gorgonia homomalla Esper, 1794
Gorgonia humosa Esper, 1794
Plexaura homomalla f. homomalla (Esper, 1794)
Plexaura macrocythara Lamouroux, 1816
Plexauropsis tricolor Stiasny, 1935
Direct children (2):
Forma Plexaura homomalla f. homomalla Esper, 1794 accepted as Plexaura homomalla (Esper, 1794) (synonymy)
Forma Plexaura homomalla f. kukenthali Moser, 1921 accepted as Plexaura kukenthali Moser, 1921 (synonymy)
