The Giant Gorgonian Sea Fan, Gorgonian Fan, Giant Sea Fan, scientifically known as Annella mollis, is a striking and captivating marine invertebrate. Its large, fan-shaped colony, resembling a delicate, intricate sculpture, adds an element of grandeur to the underwater landscape.
Description & Characteristics
Annella mollis is a colonial organism, meaning it is composed of numerous tiny, interconnected polyps. These polyps create a branching, fan-like structure that can reach significant sizes, often exceeding a meter in height and width. The fan’s surface is covered in numerous polyps, each with eight tentacles that capture food from the surrounding water. The color of the Giant Gorgonian Sea Fan can vary, ranging from vibrant shades of orange and yellow to more subdued browns and reds.
Habitat and Occurrence
The Giant Gorgonian Sea Fan, Annella mollis, prefers the depths of the ocean, flourishing in the subtidal, sublittoral, infralittoral, and deep zones. Its presence extends from the lower boundary of the intertidal zone, where it transitions from the land to the sea, down to the shelf edge, roughly 200 meters below the surface. This makes it a common inhabitant of the neritic zone, the area of the ocean extending from the shoreline to the shelf edge. The Annella mollis thrives in a variety of marine environments, contributing significantly to the diversity of these ecosystems.
Taxonomy
The Giant Gorgonian Sea Fan, Annella mollis, belongs to the Class: Octocorallia, a group characterized by their eight-tentacled polyps. This class falls under the Order: Malacalcyonacea, a diverse order encompassing various sea fans and corals. The species Annella mollis is further classified within the Family: Subergorgiidae, which is known for its members’ distinctive, often brightly colored, branching colonies.
Feeding
As a nonphotosynthetic organism, Annella mollis relies entirely on capturing food from the surrounding environment. It feeds on a variety of microscopic organisms, including plankton, copepods, and amphipods. Additionally, it supplements its diet with marine snow, a collection of organic debris that drifts down from the surface, and occasionally opportunistic prey such as brine shrimp nauplii and lobster eggs. The Annella mollis plays a vital role in its marine ecosystem by consuming these organisms, contributing to the overall balance of the food web.
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