Gersemia Explained

Gersemia is a genus of soft corals in the family Nephtheidae. Species in this genus are found in cold temperate and polar seas at depths ranging from to over . The type species is Gersemia loricata.

Characteristics

Colonies of Gersemia are arborescent, growing erectly with one main stem. The polyps are most numerous at the branch tips and are unable to retract into the calyces. The walls of the stalk and branches are stiffened with sclerites which are often brightly coloured. Corals in this genus do not contain zooxanthellae, the microalgae symbionts found in some other corals.^[1]

Species

The World Register of Marine Species includes the following species in the genus:

• Gersemia antarctica (Kükenthal, 1902)
• Gersemia carnea Verrill
• Gersemia clavata (Danielssen, 1887)
• Gersemia crassa (Danielssen, 1887)
• Gersemia danielsseni (Studer, 1891)
• Gersemia fruticosa Sars, 1860
• Gersemia hicksoni (Gravier, 1913)
• Gersemia japonica (Kükenthal, 1906)
• Gersemia juliepackardae Williams & Lundsten, 2009
• Gersemia lambi Williams, 2013
• Gersemia liltvedi (Verseveldt & Williams, 1988)
• Gersemia loricata von Marenzeller, 1878
• Gersemia marenzelleri Kükenthal, 1906
• Gersemia mirabilis (Danielssen, 1887)
• Gersemia rubiformis (Ehrenberg, 1834)
• Gersemia studeri Verrill
• Gersemia uvaeformis (May, 1900)

Notes and References

1. http://dpc.uba.uva.nl/cgi/t/text/get-pdf?c=zoomed;idno=8304a34 The nephtheid soft coral genus Gersemia Marenzeller, 1878, with the description of a new species from the northeast Pacific and a review of two additional species (Octocorallia: Alcyonacea)