Overview
Interesting Facts
Common Names
Common Names in English:
Fleshy Sea Pen, Orange Sea Pen, Sea Feather
Description
Physical Description
Species Ptilosarcus gurneyi
A sea pen with a fleshy lower part of stalk , which is buried in the sediment. Upper part of central stalk (rachis) has a hard central support . Branches are thick and fleshy with small polyps along the edges . Usually yellow or orange, often large (up to 1/2 meter). Has great powers to expand or contract. The entire central part (rachis) is said to be one large polyp. Smaller, inconspicuous polyps open into it and pump water in an out as needed for expansion or contraction. [1]
Habitat
Sand and mud bottoms in 25' to 300' from Alaska to southern California
Biome: Marine .
Biology
Behavior
Produces a strong greenish luminescence when disturbed .[1]
Predators:
Preyed upon by several nudibranchs, including Hermissenda crassicornis, Armina californica, and Tritonia festiva, and of the seastars Dermasterias imbricata, Pycnopodia helianthoides, Mediaster aequalis, and Crossaster papposus. The sea pens may rapidly burrow into the sediment when contacted by a predator . Although they do not appear to burrow when exposed only to seawater which contained a predatory seastar, they were more likely to burrow after contacting a predatory seastar if they had already been exposed to its smell. This species responds to different predators differently. [1]
Taxonomy
- Domain:
Eukaryota
(
)
- Whittaker & Margulis,1978
- eukaryotes
- Kingdom:
Animalia
()
- C. Linnaeus, 1758
- animals
- Subkingdom:
Radiata
()
- (Linnaeus, 1758) Cavalier-Smith, 1983
- Infrakingdom:
Coelenterata
()
- Leuckart, 1847
- Phylum:
Cnidaria
()
- Hatschek, 1888
- Cnidarians
- Subphylum:
Anthozoa
()
- (Ehrenberg, 1831) Cavalier-Smith, 1998
- Corals, Flower Animals
- Class:
cyonaria/Order_Pennatulacea/Ptilosarcus_gurneyi.ht
()
- Ehrenberg, 1831
- Subclass:
Alcyonaria
()
- Suborder:
Subselliflorae
()
-
- Family:
Pennatulidae
()
-
- Genus:
Ptilosarcus
()
- Verrill, 1866
- Subgenus:
shelf
()
- Specific name:
gurneyi
- (Gray, 1860)
- Scientific name: - Ptilosarcus gurneyi (Gray, 1860)
- Specific name:
gurneyi
- (Gray, 1860)
- Subgenus:
shelf
(
- Genus:
Ptilosarcus
(
- Family:
Pennatulidae
(
- Suborder:
Subselliflorae
(
- Subclass:
Alcyonaria
(
- Class:
cyonaria/Order_Pennatulacea/Ptilosarcus_gurneyi.ht
(
- Subphylum:
Anthozoa
(
- Phylum:
Cnidaria
(
- Infrakingdom:
Coelenterata
(
- Subkingdom:
Radiata
(
- Kingdom:
Animalia
(
Synonyms
Leioptilus guerneyi • Leioptilus quadrangulare • Ptilosarcus quadrangulare • Ptilosarcus quadrangularis
Notes
Name
Status: Accepted Name
.
Comment: shelf
Last scrutiny: 2004-2007
Similar Species
Members of the genus Ptilosarcus
ZipcodeZoo has pages for 1 species and subspecies in this genus:
More Info
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Further Reading
- ...Scientific results of the cruises of the yachts "Eagle" and "Ara", 1921-1928, William K. Vanderbilt, commanding. Crustacea... By Lee Boone. Huntington, N. Y., Priv. print. [The Science press printing company, Lancaster, Pa.]1930- url , p. 16, p. 57, p. 58.
- Benthic productivity and marine resources of the Gulf of Maine / Ivar Babb and Michael De Luca, editors. [Rockville, MD] (6010 Executive Blvd., Suite 805, Rockville 20852): U.S. Dept of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, Office of Undersea Research, [1988] url p. 129.
- Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, 4th series. San Francisco, California Academy of Sciences. url p. 100, p. 102, p. 217, p. 40, p. 55, p. 56, p. 57, p. 58, p. 59, p. 62, p. 65, p. 66, p. 70, p. 71, p. 711, p. 79, p. 85, p. 90, p. 93, p. 98, p. 99.
- Report of the Canadian Arctic Expedition 1913-18. Ottawa, F. A. Acland, Printer to the King, 1919- url .
- Reports. OttawaKing's Printer1917 url p. 10, p. 72.
- The Biological bulletin. Woods Hole, Mass.: Marine Biological Laboratory, url , p. 102, p. 328, p. 333, p. 335, p. 341, p. 414, p. 417, p. 522, p. 522, p. 81, p. 82.
Notes
Contributors
- Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 15, 2012.
- Cowles, Dave. Key to Invertebrates Found At or Near The Rosario Beach Marine Laboratory (a campus of Walla Walla University) Fidalgo Island, Anacortes, WA.
- Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed March 02, 2008. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from provider.
- Ruggiero M., Gordon D., Bailly N., Kirk P., Nicolson D. (2011). The Catalogue of Life Taxonomic Classification, Edition 2, Part A. In: Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2011 Annual Checklist (Bisby F.A., Roskov Y.R., Orrell T.M., Nicolson D., Paglinawan L.E., Bailly N., Kirk P.M., Bourgoin T., Baillargeon G., Ouvrard D., eds). DVD; Species 2000: Reading, UK.
- URMO: UNESCO-IOC Register of Marine Organisms. Release date: November 18, 2008
- Williams, G.C. and Van der Land, J. (from UNESCO-IOC Register of Marine Organisms).
Data Sources
Accessed through GBIF Data Portal March 02, 2008:
- Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University: Gwaii Haanas Invertebrates (OBIS Canada)
Identifiers
- Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 3866698
- Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: URM-Cn-4588
- Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 52424
- Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 153511
