Gersemia

Gersemia
Gersemia antarctica
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Cnidaria
Subphylum: Anthozoa
Class: Octocorallia
Order: Malacalcyonacea
Family: Alcyoniidae
Genus: Gersemia
Marenzeller, 1877
Species
See text

Gersemia is a genus of soft corals in the family Alcyoniidae. Species in this genus are found in cold temperate and polar seas at depths ranging from 20 metres (66 ft) to over 2,000 metres (6,600 ft). The type species is Gersemia loricata.

Characteristics

Colonies of Gersemia are arborescent, growing erectly with one main stem. The polyps are most numerous at the branch tips and are unable to retract into the calyces. The walls of the stalk and branches are stiffened with sclerites which are often brightly coloured. Corals in this genus do not contain zooxanthellae, the microalgae symbionts found in some other corals.

Species

The World Register of Marine Species includes the following species in the genus:

References

  1. 1 2 3 McFadden CS, Cordeiro R, Samimi-Namin K, Hoeksema BW, Williams G, van Ofwegen LP, eds. (2026). "Gersemia von Marenzeller, 1878". World List of Octocorallia. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 2026-09-14.
  2. ↑ The nephtheid soft coral genus Gersemia Marenzeller, 1878, with the description of a new species from the northeast Pacific and a review of two additional species (Octocorallia: Alcyonacea)