Bamboo coral

Bamboo coral, family Keratoisididae (formerly included in Isididae as the subfamily Keratoisidinae)^[1]^[2] is a family of coral of the phylum Cnidaria.^[3]^[4] It is a commonly recognized inhabitant of the deep sea, due to the clearly articulated skeletons of the species.^[5]

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Bamboo coral

Isidella tentaculum (Gulf of Alaska)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Cnidaria
Subphylum:	Anthozoa
Class:	Octocorallia
Order:	Scleralcyonacea
Family:	Keratoisididae Gray, 1870

Prior to 2021, bamboo corals was the vernacular name of the family Isididae, the definition of which was completely different from its current definition (see Isididae for details). This former family Isididae was accepted prior to 2021 because its members had their articulated skeletons with proteinaceous joints, but the family was shown to be paraphyletic after it was found that this had evolved at least five separate times.^[1]^[2]

As of 2023, the taxonomy of Keratoisididae is being actively revised.^[3]

This section needs to be updated. The reason given is: The former family Isididae was split in three parts around 2020, one of which is Keratoisididae. Information in the chapter Description is about the larger former family Isididae that includes species that Keratoisididaen does not. Most information in the article is from before 2010.. (July 2025)

Relatively little is known about bamboo coral.^[6]^[7] The skeletons of bamboo coral are made up of calcium carbonate in the form of tree-like branches alternating with joint-like nodes or axes composed of gorgonin protein.^[8]^[9] The alternation of the bony structures with the smaller gorgonin parts give the bamboo coral a finger-like appearance similar to that of the bamboo plant on land.^[8] Bamboo coral was reported in 2005 to have been found on a dozen seamounts in the Pacific Ocean between Santa Barbara, California, and Kodiak, Alaska.^[10] Ages and growth rates of bamboo coral in the deepest water are unknown. However, based on radiocarbon-based growth rate and age data from specimens in the Gulf of Alaska, the life span has been estimated to be between 75 and 126 years.^[11] A number of bamboo coral species are bioluminescent.^[12]

In 2007,^[13] a mission funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) discovered seven new species of bamboo coral in the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, a U.S. national monument lying primarily in deep waters off the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, using the Pisces V. Of these seven new species, six may represent completely new genera (that is, major new classification categories). As of 2009, data from these findings is still being analyzed.^[14]^{[needs update]} A bamboo coral "tree", five feet tall, was described for the first time by the mission. Scientists also found an area of dead coral, about 10,000 square feet (930 m²) and more than 2,000 feet (610 m) deep. The cause of death of the coral community is unknown but it is estimated to have occurred several thousand to perhaps over a million years ago.^[13]

Deep sea bamboo coral provides the ecosystems to support deep sea life and also may be among the first organisms to display the effects of changes in ocean acidification caused by excess carbon dioxide, since they produce growth rings similar to those of a tree and can provide a view of changes in the condition in the deep sea over time. Some bamboo coral can be especially long-lived; coral specimens as old as 4,000 years were found at the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, giving scientists a window into the ocean's past. One scientist said the coral provided "4,000 years worth of information about what has been going on in the deep ocean interior".^[15]

Deep water coral organisms such as bamboo coral are especially affected by the practice of bottom trawling.^[10]

Some research has raised the possibility that bamboo corals, because of their potential to mimic biological properties, may potentially be used as living bone implants as well as in aquatic cultivation.^[8]

Description

Genera

References

External links

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