Danièle Heitz, Frankreich
Info
Acanthogorgia ildibaha has a tree-like, bushy shape with thin, branched branches extending in all directions, which are reddish-purple, magenta, and crimson in color.
Outer slope of the main reef, on exposed coral rock, where several specimens were observed far apart from each other.
Fans up to 30 cm high. The holotype is a fan 24 cm high and 30 cm wide.
Octocoral
The polyps are 0.7-1.0 mm in size, numerous and sit quite densely packed, but can be found around the terminal branches, giving them a fluffy appearance.
They have the same coloration as the branches, but may be slightly lighter, with a clearly visible, lighter-colored mouth. The polyps are contractile but not retractable.
Reproduction: Presumably gonochoric.
The colonies are male or female. Male and female gametes are released in open water.
Fertilization occurs externally. The swimming larvae (planulae) are planktonic for a short time, then they attach themselves to the substrate and develop into polyps. They then begin to secrete gorgonin, which forms the skeleton.
Further growth of the colony then occurs through budding of the polyps.
In his first description (The shallow water Gorgonians of New Caledonia and adjacent inlands / Ccoelenterata : Octocorallia), page 24, Grasshoff describes the color of living colonies as “orange-brown, tentacles white.”
Color in life according to the first description by Dr. Grasshoff
Outer slope of the main reef, on exposed coral rock, where several specimens were observed far apart from each other.
Fans up to 30 cm high. The holotype is a fan 24 cm high and 30 cm wide.
Octocoral
The polyps are 0.7-1.0 mm in size, numerous and sit quite densely packed, but can be found around the terminal branches, giving them a fluffy appearance.
They have the same coloration as the branches, but may be slightly lighter, with a clearly visible, lighter-colored mouth. The polyps are contractile but not retractable.
Reproduction: Presumably gonochoric.
The colonies are male or female. Male and female gametes are released in open water.
Fertilization occurs externally. The swimming larvae (planulae) are planktonic for a short time, then they attach themselves to the substrate and develop into polyps. They then begin to secrete gorgonin, which forms the skeleton.
Further growth of the colony then occurs through budding of the polyps.
In his first description (The shallow water Gorgonians of New Caledonia and adjacent inlands / Ccoelenterata : Octocorallia), page 24, Grasshoff describes the color of living colonies as “orange-brown, tentacles white.”
Color in life according to the first description by Dr. Grasshoff
