[Coral-List] Unomia stolonifera at Venezuela

[Douglas Fenner]

Angel,  Thank you, I had not heard of this.

Angel informs me that this is a soft coral, a Xenid.  They often have very
large polyps which (at least in the Indo-Pacific) continuously open and
close.

Angel writes:

"Hi. Unomia stolonifera before Xenia stolonifera, is a soft coral. In this
link you can see It clearly and evaluate the problem:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CnsIYN1jMdf/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

We need help.

Thanks"

In addition, a quick search found this paper:

The invasive octocoral Unomia stolonifera (Alceonacea, Xenidae) is
dominating benthos in the southeastern Caribbean Sea.

file:///C:/Users/dougl/Downloads/RUIZ-ALLAISETAL2021.UNOMIASTOLONIFERAINVASION.pdf

Spreading fast and dominating substrates, this appears to be a major threat
to west Atlantic reefs.  Ugh.

If and when someone sees it somewhere else, please let us know.

Cheers, Doug

On Sun, Jan 22, 2023 at 1:03 AM Ángel Rafael Fariña Pestano via Coral-List <
coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:

> Best regards. I think many of you already know about the problem we have
> in Venezuela with the invasion of Unomia stolonifera. However, the current
> situation is truly alarming and threatens the entire Caribbean. Unomia has
> spread from the East to the West of the country and in the Mochima National
> Park, it occupies approximately 50% of the native reefs, with coverage of
> up to 100% of the space in some areas. I invite you to see on my Instagram
> @afarina46 a video that I have just published so that the seriousness of
> the case is understood. I believe that an international meeting is urgently
> needed to establish strategies to follow. Regards
> Enviado desde Yahoo Mail con Android
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