Gorgonias & Sean fans study aggressiveness v.1

[coltrref]

really I do not know if for here already I take a study with regard to the gorgonias and sea fans.

the information was extracted from the book of Julian Sprung; "Corals to quick reference guide"'. In the content we are showed by the possible aggressiveness of each of the gorgonias in scale of the 1 to 10.

for example:

Acabaria= 1
Acalycigorgia= 1
Carijoa= 1
Chronephthya= 1
Clathraria= 1
Coelogorgia= 2
Diodogorgia= 1
Echinomuricea= 1
Eunicea= 2
Gorgonia= 1
Guaiagorgia= 1
Iciligorgia= 1
Isis= 2
Junceella= 1
Melithaea= 1
Menella= 10
Muricea= 4
Muricella= 2
Muriceopsis= 4
Pacifigorgia spp.= 1
Phyllogorgia= 2
Pinnigorgia= 2
Plerogorgia spp.= 1
Plexaura spp.= 1
Plexaurella spp.= 1
Pseudoplexaura spp.= 3
Pseudopterogorgia spp.= 4
Rumphella= 2
Siphonogorgia= 2
Subergorgia= 1
Swiftia excerta= 1

nevertheless, do we know that in practice his behavior can be different, so, for that we do not share any experiences of the aggressiveness between the gorgonias & sea fans?, even with some pics.

 

[fullmonti]

That is interesting all the 1s & 2s, & that one 10.

 

[aninjaatemyshoe]

Is this chemical aggressiveness? In other words, does this mean that aggressive corals emit chemicals that are either toxic or inhibitory for other corals?

 

[Elysia]

I would consider Briareum spp. of gorgorians to be highly aggressive. Not only can they grow quickly and are capable of encrusting other corals, but they are known to be one of the most toxic gorgonians.
Erthropodium is also not listed above. According to Borneman, they grow quickly and "there are no corals yet studied that Erythropodium do not or cannnot encrust and overgrow." Apparently they are difficult to remove from the substrate. In addition, they "can form elongated nonpinnate sweeper tentacles along the edge of the expanding mat that contain prominent stinging acrospheres."
Borneman notes that polyps of the Gorgonia spp. "produce many terpenoid compounds and may adversely affect other corals in captive systems."
Pseudoplexaura and Eunicea spp. produce the chemical compound crassin, which is toxic to fish and is likely used to deter predation. Many gorgonians produce chemicals that are antimicrobial in nature.
Muricea spp. can also produce sweeper tentacles


I came upon this thread when searching for Coelogorgia. Just so those who are interested know, Coelogorgia isn't a gorgonian.

Taxonomically, corals, jellyfish, and anemones are classified in the phylum Cnidaria, and the animals hobbyists are most interested in are included in the class Anthozoa. Anthozoa is divided into subclasses. The Hexacorallia subclass includes the anemones, zoanthids, mushrooms, and stony corals, while the Octocorallia subclass includes blue corals, soft corals, stoloniferans, gorgonians, and sea pens. While Coelogorgia belongs to the same order as the gorgonians, they belong to different suborders; Coelogorgia is classified is the suborder Stolonifera, which includes the clove polyps, green star polyps, and pipe-organ coral.