This year a very peculiar solitary stony coral calledDactylotrochuswas described from small colonies collected from the deep sea. What makesDactylotrochus cervicornisspecial is that unlike the large meaty solitary deep sea corals which we are familiar with in the Flabellidae and Caryophyllidae families, the new species is from the family Agariciidae. What this means forDactylotrochusis that it is more closely related toPavonaandLeptoseristhan the fleshy stony corals we usually think of coming from the ocean abyss.
像新发现的Leptoseris troglodyta,Dactylotrochusis also non-photosynthetic since it lives beyond the direct reach of the sun at depths of 230 to 2800 feet!Dactylotrochuswas originally described asTridacophyllia cervicornisway back in 1881 but just this year the coral was re-evaluated with genetics and morphology to determine its close relation to more familiar shallow-water stony corals that we know and love.
The transfer ofDactylotrochusinto the family ofPavona,LeptoserisandAgariciasheds some light on the potential evolutionary path that members of this family have taken, perhaps beginning as azooxanthellate corals and then specializing for the low-light reef niches which often requires some dependence on feeding on particulate foods. Although we only have skeleton pictures to go from the unique branching shape ofDactylotrochusborders on the astounding. Could you imagine ifDactylotrochus进行一些the genetics for coloration similar toLeptoserisand some specimens existed with green, orange or red pigmentation? So many cool corals, so little time.
