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Related FAQs: Xeniids, Pulsing Corals, Xeniid
FAQs 2, Xeniid FAQs 3, Xeniid
FAQs 4, Xeniid ID,
Xeniid Behavior, Xeniid
Selection, Xeniid Compatibility, Xeniid
Systems, Xeniid Systems 2, Xeniid Feeding, Xeniid
Disease, Xeniid Health 2,
Xeniid Health 3, Xeniid Reproduction, Soft Coral
Propagation, Soft Coral Health,
Related Articles: Soft Corals, Order Alcyonacea,
/The Best Livestock For Your Reef Aquarium:
The Pulsing Soft Corals, Family Xeniidae
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By Bob Fenner
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Xeniid in the Red Sea, DF Pic |
<To do: make chart differentiating different Xeniid genera: Criteria: size
of colonies, arrangement of polyps, number of rows of pinnules...>
Genus Anthelia Lamarck 1816: Clusters of polyps all arising from a
united stolon base that is soft, ribbon-like. Polyp pinnules in rows of 1-4 in
number; slightly contractile, not retractile; some don't even respond to touch.
Unlike Heteroxenia and Xenia species, Anthelia colonies
branch at their base of attachment.
| Anthelia sp. (perhaps A. flava) N.
Sulawesi. |
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| Anthelia edmondsonii (Verrill 1928). Light blue in
color this is one of the few soft corals found in Hawai'i (and only
there). Predated nightly by the Nudibranch Tritonia hawaiiensis. 1/4"
inch across polyps in colonies 3-12" across. Big Island photos. |
 
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| Anthelia glauca, Red Sea.
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Genus Cespitularia Milne-Edwards & Haime 1850: Soft colonies,
appear translucent, comprised of a few lobe-like branches. Polyps only on apex
and upper areas of stalks. Similar to Xenia, but polyps extend downward on
stalks. Polyps often appear "basket like" (tips closely together).
Numerous pinnules arranged in 1-4 rows on edges of tentacles.
| Cespitularia sp. N. Sulawesi pix. |
 
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| Cespitularia sp. 2 N. White body fading to blue
tentacles. Shallow water, reef flat species. One of the hobbyist-called
"Blue Cespitularias". Sulawesi pix. |
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Genus Heteroxenia Kolliker 1874: Characterized by their heteromorphic condition; possession
of longer, non-retractile auto- and siphonozoid (much shorter polyps, placed on stalks
in-between the autozoids... may only be seen when autozoids are retracted) polyps. Highly pinnate, long tentacles, typically
non-branching colonies.
| Heteroxenia fuscescens (Ehrenberg 1834), Pom-Pom,
Palaver, Pulse Coral. Indo-Pacific; most common in the Red Sea. Red Sea
image. |
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Genus Xenia Lamarck 1816: Small cylindrical colonies (up to 4 cm in
all dimensions typically), dome shaped. Sometimes branched, with polyps only at
apical stems. One-shape polyps with varying capacity to retract, 1-6 pinnules on
both sides (number of rows, pinnules species-specific). Some pulsate, some
don't. Forty plus species, scattered over the Indo-Pacific. Fed
on by similar appearing Nudibranchs of the genus Phyllodesmium.
| Xenia cf. actuosa Verseveldt & Tursch
1979. Large colonies, tentacles tubular shaped, white with brown pinnules.
A rapidly pulsing species. Western Pacific; New Guinea, Philippines. N.
Sulawesi pix. |
 
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| Xenia cf. elongata, Red Sea. |
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| Xenia umbellata Lamarck 1816, Bouquet Encrusting
Coral. Indo-Pacific; including the Red Sea. To about five inches in
overall dimension. Tissues contain zooxanthellae. On import, do look for
parasitic Nudibranchs and copepods (Paradoridicola glabripes). This
colony off of Queensland, Australia. |
 
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| Xenia sp. Branches support capitulums that bear
polyps at end. Stalks smooth, white, polyps mottled, brown. Indo-West
Pacific; Red Sea, East Africa to Australia, S. Japan, Polynesia. N.
Sulawesi pic. |
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About Pulsing Coral Abundance: They can take over your tanks...
| In places, the Pulsing Corals will dominate a given
environmental niche. Here three species, including the blue Efflatournaria
crowd a tridacnid clam off of Queensland, Australia. |
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