Brachycnemina Explained

Brachycnemina is a suborder of zoanthids in the order Zoantharia. Genetic analysis has been used to suggest Brachycnemina is a monophyletic group diverging within the paraphyletic Macrocnemina.^[1]

Characteristics

Brachycnemia species habitate most environments, ranging from shallow tropical reefs to cold seeps in the deep sea. It forms large colonies on intertidal and shallow reef crests. Due to the members of this suborder being loosely collected, there are no standard characteristics uniting them besides slight morphological, ecological and phylogenetic differences.^[2]

Subdivisions

This suborder counts with 3 taxonomic families, namely Neozoanthidae, which is monogeneric; Sphenopidae, which includes sand-encrusted and colonial specimens like the commonly found Palythoa and Sphenopus, itself found in a few discrete areas; and Zoanthidae, whose belonging species do not show sand encrustation. A total of 6 known genera and over 163 species are comprised within the Brachycnemina.^[3] Palythoa and Zoanthus are two of the most common coral genera and are intensively studied for their bioactive compounds.^[4]

Further reading

• Book: M.B. Jones. J.M.N. Azevedo. A.I. Neto . Ana Cristina Costa . A.M. Frias Martins . Island, Ocean and Deep-Sea Biology: Proceedings of the 34th European Marine Biology Symposium, held in Ponta Delgada (Azores), Portugal, 13–17 September 1999. 11 November 2013. Springer Science & Business Media. 978-94-017-1982-7. 192–.
• Montenegro. Javier. Sinniger. Frederic. Reimer. James Davis. Unexpected diversity and new species in the sponge-Parazoanthidae association in southern Japan. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 89. 2015. 73–90. 1055-7903. 10.1016/j.ympev.2015.04.002. 25863336.
• Ryland. J. S.. Lancaster. J. E.. A review of zoanthid nematocyst types and their population structure. Hydrobiologia. 530–531. 1–3. 2004. 179–187. 0018-8158. 10.1007/s10750-004-2685-1.
• Ryland. John S.. Lancaster. John E.. Revision of methods for separating species of Protopalythoa (Hexacorallia : Zoanthidea) in the tropical West Pacific. Invertebrate Systematics. 17. 3. 2003. 407. 1445-5226. 10.1071/IS02008.
• Ryland. John S.. Brasseur. Muriel M.. Lancaster. John E.. Use of cnidae in taxonomy: implications from a study ofAcrozoanthus australiae(Hexacorallia, Zoanthidea). Journal of Natural History. 38. 10. 2004. 1193–1223. 0022-2933. 10.1080/0022293031000155179. 85089975 .

External links

• • WORMS entry

Notes and References

1. Sinniger. F.. Montoya-Burgos. J. I.. Chevaldonné. P.. Pawlowski. J.. Phylogeny of the order Zoantharia (Anthozoa, Hexacorallia) based on the mitochondrial ribosomal genes. Marine Biology. 147. 5. 2005. 1121–1128. 0025-3162. 10.1007/s00227-005-0016-3. 83525057 .
2. REIMER. James Davis. Key to field identification of shallow water brachycnemic zoanthids (Order Zoantharia: Suborder Brachycnemina) present in Okinawa. Galaxea, Journal of Coral Reef Studies. 12. 1. 2010. 23–29. 1883-3969. 10.3755/galaxea.12.23. free.
3. Web site: Brachycnemina Haddon & Shackleton, 1891. GBIF.org. 21 May 2015. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304105047/http://www.gbif.org/species/109752249. 4 March 2016.
4. Pandya Khushali . M. . et al . 2014 . Occurrence of Zoanthid genus Isaurus from Saurashtra coast, Gujarat, India . European Journal of Zoological Research . 3 . 2. 1–5 .