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Myriozotisis

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Myriozotisis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Cnidaria
Class: Octocorallia
Order: Scleralcyonacea
Family: Mopseidae
Genus: Myriozotisis
Alderslade, 1998
Species

Myriozotisis is a genus of coral in the family Mopseidae.[1] The type species is Myriozotisis heatherae, and the one other identified species is Myriozotisis spinoza.[1][2] The name refers to the fine branching of the genus, and is composed of the Greek Myrios ("numberless") and ozotos ("branched/branching"), combined with Isis.[2]

Description

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The corals reach up to about 16.2 cm in height, and are densely and finely branched.[2] The colonies are planar.[2][clarification needed] Preserved specimens are greyish orange, comparable to the color of new rust.[2] The axial internodes range from being orange-white and translucent in the thicker branches to being orange to orange brown and transparent in the finer ones.[2] They are up to 1.7 mm long in M. spinosa and up to 4.3 mm long in M. heatherae.[2] The nodes of the skeleton are dark brown or orange.[2] Early examples were found somewhat off the coast near Brisbane, Australia.[2]

References

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  1. ^ a b "WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species - Myriozotisis Alderslade, 1998". marinespecies.org. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Alderslade, P. (1998). Revisionary systematics in the gorgonian family Isididae, with descriptions of numerous new taxa (Coelenterata: Octocorallia). Records of the Western Australian Museum. Supplement No. 55: 1-360.