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Gorgoniacea

Gorgoniacea

9.9
An old name for a group of sea animals like sea fans and red corals
  • noun
  • Archaic
translation icon : Gorgoniácea
  • Scientists used to classify many sea fans under Gorgoniacea.

Examples

  • The Gorgoniacea were once distinguished by their fan-like colonial forms.

  • Specimens from the Gorgoniacea are often found in tropical oceans.

  • The Gorgoniacea order includes fascinating colonial corals.

  • Many marine biologists study Gorgoniacea for their unique structures.

  • Many marine species rely on the habitat provided by Gorgoniacea in coral reefs.

  • Researchers discovered that Gorgoniacea corals can thrive in various oceanic conditions.

  • The biologist explained how Gorgoniacea contribute to the biodiversity of marine ecosystems.

Synonyms

gorgonian
vsGorgoniacea
  • Specialized
1 9.9

A coral with a branching hard skeleton that lives in warm seas

refers to a taxonomic order not to individual coral types
Gorgonacea
vsGorgoniacea
  • Specialized
9.9

A group of soft corals like sea fans and red corals that live in warm oceans

is now an obsolete classification formerly used for that same group
Alcyonaria
vsGorgoniacea
  • Archaic
9.9

A group of soft sea animals like corals that have tentacles with eight branches

focuses only on colonial marine corals such as sea fans and red corals
Alcyonacea
vsGorgoniacea
  • Specialized
9.9

A group of soft corals with flexible, fleshy bodies that do not build hard skeletons and live in warm seas

is an obsolete order term formerly used for those same corals
order Alcyonaria
vsGorgoniacea
  • Specialized
9.9

A group of soft corals and sea anemones with tentacles that branch into eight parts and eight internal walls

is limited to colonial marine corals rather than including anemones
gorgonian coral
vsGorgoniacea
  • Specialized
9.8

A sea animal with hard tree-like branches that lives in warm water

is an obsolete classification rank covering groups not a single coral kind

Compounds

9.9

A group of soft corals like red coral and sea fans

Surface Forms

Gorgoniacea singular
Gorgoniaceas plural

Etymology

Gorgoniacea comes from the coral name Gorgonia, which in turn comes from Gorgon, a Greek 'monster' with wild, snake-like hair, because the fan-shaped corals were thought to look a little like that wild hair. The ending -acea marks a 'group' of related living things, so Gorgoniacea was the old name for the group of sea fans and similar corals.