2006-10-06 08:07:40 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Other - Science
Sea Fan
(Gorgonia ventalina)
Size: Up to 6 feet (2 m) high and 5 feet (1.5 m) wide.
Range: In Atlantic Ocean from Bermuda south to Curacao.
These large coral colonies are easy to recognize because of their fan shape. A flexible, ***** substance called gorgonin forms this coral's central skeleton, which supports all branches of the colony. Living tissues form a layer over the skeleton's entire surface.
More than a million microscopic algae called zooxanthellae are found in a square centimeter of coral tissue. The algae make food for the coral through the process of photosynthesis. The algae also generate the coral's color. Sea fans appear in shades of red, yellow, or orange.
Sea fans typically grow across the current so that their polyps can spread out their tentacles to form a net for catching microscopic plants (plankton). There are about 500 species of Gorgonia. The species shown here is found in the shallow waters of all oceans, but is especially abundant along the Atlantic coasts of Florida, Bermuda, and the West Indies.
http://www.ocean.udel.edu/kiosk/gorgonia.html
2006-10-06 08:23:52 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
A sea fan is a form of sessile colonial cnidarian, similar to a sea pen or a soft coral, found in tropical and subtropical seawater. Individual tiny polyps form a colony that is erect, flattened, branching, and reminiscent of a fan. A colony can be several feet high and across but only a few inches thick. They may be brightly coloured, often purple, red, or yellow.
Unlike corals, sea fans do not attach themselves to a hard substrate: instead, they anchor themselves in mud or sand. Each sea fan polyp has eight tentacles which catch plankton that is consumed. The "fan" is often oriented across the prevailing current to maximise water throughput and hence food supply. They may also contain algae which photosynthesise.
Sea fans (order Gorgonacea) are classified in the phylum Cnidaria, class Anthozoa, alongside the orders Alcyonacea (soft corals) and Pennatulacea (sea pens).
2006-10-06 09:25:04 · answer #2 · answered by jmj 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sea Fans is one type of sea creature. it's like sea plant but it is not .It is one kind of sea animal.
2006-10-06 08:14:31 · answer #3 · answered by leftalone1211 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A type of coral
2006-10-06 08:13:08 · answer #4 · answered by Bill N 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I dont care
2006-10-06 08:17:55 · answer #5 · answered by conman255 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋