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This white horn coral is only known from Las Ánimas Island, Gulf of California, the coast of Mexico and the west coast of Peru.
The coral has been found on rocky bottoms, in caves and on rocky outcrops.
Colonies usually grow in one level, but in some cases they extend into two or three levels.
The colonies studied are bushy, usually with lateral and irregular branching, subdividing up to 10 times, and some branching is anastomosing.
The colonies grow up to 25 cm long and 21 cm wide, the diameter of the branches reaches up to 10 mm.
The colonies are infested by a parasitic polychaete species that perforates the axils and, in some branches, are also colonized by small Cirripedia.
Recommendation - the coral should be kept in a species-specific tank.
Feeding
The majority of gorgonians do not have zooxanthellae and do not live off light. Azooxanthellate gorgonians do not host symbiotic algae that produce nutrients and energy through photosynthesis.
The pumps should be switched off before feeding. In order for the gorgonian to survive in the aquarium, each individual polyp must be fed sufficiently, i.e. daily or 3-4 times a week. Without feeding, the gorgonian will not survive in the aquarium. The polyps need a certain amount of time to absorb the food (granules or dust food (Ultramarin, Cyclop Eeze) or frozen food (lobster eggs, mysis)). If shrimp and fish are present, they will try to steal the food, so it is essential to feed these cohabitants beforehand.
Newly introduced gorgonian sticks can be stimulated with a liquid food, e.g., PolypLab Polyp, to encourage the individual polyps to open. Only then can feeding be carried out.
The better the individual polyps take up the food provided, the better the growth and reproduction rates will be.
Azooxanthellate corals eat suspensions, marine snow, microplankton, and other organic matter, which is their natural food.
Source:
Breedy O, Guzman HM (2016)
A revision of the genus Muricea Lamouroux, 1821 (Anthozoa, Octocorallia) in the eastern Pacific. Part II.
ZooKeys 581: 1-69. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.581.7910
The coral has been found on rocky bottoms, in caves and on rocky outcrops.
Colonies usually grow in one level, but in some cases they extend into two or three levels.
The colonies studied are bushy, usually with lateral and irregular branching, subdividing up to 10 times, and some branching is anastomosing.
The colonies grow up to 25 cm long and 21 cm wide, the diameter of the branches reaches up to 10 mm.
The colonies are infested by a parasitic polychaete species that perforates the axils and, in some branches, are also colonized by small Cirripedia.
Recommendation - the coral should be kept in a species-specific tank.
Feeding
The majority of gorgonians do not have zooxanthellae and do not live off light. Azooxanthellate gorgonians do not host symbiotic algae that produce nutrients and energy through photosynthesis.
The pumps should be switched off before feeding. In order for the gorgonian to survive in the aquarium, each individual polyp must be fed sufficiently, i.e. daily or 3-4 times a week. Without feeding, the gorgonian will not survive in the aquarium. The polyps need a certain amount of time to absorb the food (granules or dust food (Ultramarin, Cyclop Eeze) or frozen food (lobster eggs, mysis)). If shrimp and fish are present, they will try to steal the food, so it is essential to feed these cohabitants beforehand.
Newly introduced gorgonian sticks can be stimulated with a liquid food, e.g., PolypLab Polyp, to encourage the individual polyps to open. Only then can feeding be carried out.
The better the individual polyps take up the food provided, the better the growth and reproduction rates will be.
Azooxanthellate corals eat suspensions, marine snow, microplankton, and other organic matter, which is their natural food.
Source:
Breedy O, Guzman HM (2016)
A revision of the genus Muricea Lamouroux, 1821 (Anthozoa, Octocorallia) in the eastern Pacific. Part II.
ZooKeys 581: 1-69. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.581.7910
