[Coral-List] Coral polyp identification (organism of unknown identity)

Donald Potts potts at biology.ucsc.edu
Wed Jun 24 18:34:33 EDT 2009


Diego,

This is a wonderful demonstration that all identifications should be 
treated as hypotheses - constrained by the availability of evidence, and 
by individual experiences.

I based my decision (Octocorallia) on 8 tentacles, well-developed pharynx 
(indicating a polyp), and the aboral thickening that may be relatively 
"muscular" (also suggesting a polyp). There is a small pointed structure 
between the tentacles that I'm interpreting as part of it's oral structure 
- if it should really be a new tentacle beginning to develop, then I'd 
have to think again about whether it's realy an octocoral.

Regards

Don
***********************************************************************
Donald C. Potts

Director - CDELSI
    (Center for the Dynamics and Evolution of the Land-Sea Interface)

Professor of Biology
    Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
       & Institute of Marine Sciences
    Office:  A408 Earth & Marine Sciences Building
    Lab:     D480 Earth & Marine Sciences Building

Office: (831) 459-4417            MAIL ADDRESS:
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Cell:   (831) 435-9323            Santa Cruz
Email:  potts at biology.ucsc.edu    California  95064  U.S.A. 
***********************************************************************

> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Tue, 23 Jun 2009 19:20:40 +0000
> From: Diego Fernando Lozano Cort?s <di8go11 at hotmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [Coral-List] Coral polyp identification (organism of
> 	unknown	identity)
> To: <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
> Message-ID: <SNT113-W114E9059B09FD75ECC3F9BF2360 at phx.gbl>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="windows-1252"
>
>
> Hi Donald,
>
> Thank you very much for your help and interest. Until now I had received 
> two responses. Ron Karlson who thinks it's a hydrozoan actinula larva, 
> and Gustav Paulay who thinks it's an anemone (and not a hydrozoan 
> because of the pharynx that is visible in the photo). At the moment I 
> have no data on the size of the organism, but this was collected in a 
> trawl from a depth of 30 meters to surface.
>
> Link: http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h241/carlosgm/Polipo-Gorgona2006.jpg
>
> Thank you very much.
> Cheers!
>
> Diego Fernando Lozano-Cort?s
> Senior Biology Student
> Universidad del Valle
> Cali, Colombia (Southamerica)
> Coral Reef Ecology Research Group
> di8go11 at hotmail.com
>
> ?Si quiere conocer el oc?ano Pac?fico.. vaya a Chile Si quiere conocer 
> el oc?ano Atl?ntico.. vaya a Jamaica. Si quiere conocer los Andes 
> americanos.. vaya a Bolivia. Si quiere conocer las llanuras del 
> Orinoco... vaya a Venezuela. Si quiere conocer las selvas del 
> Amazonas... vaya a Brasil. Si quiere conocer las culturas 
> precolombinas... vaya a M?xico. Pero si quiere conocer todo ello 
> junto... venga a Colombia.?
>
>
> _________________________________________________________________
k



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