Octocorallia is a subclass of the Anthozoa in the phylum Cnidaria. There are over 3.000 different species.
| Octocorallia | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Dendronephthya klunzingeri | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Cnidaria |
| Class: | Anthozoa |
| Subclass: | Octocorallia Haeckel, 1866 |
| Orders | |
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| Synonyms | |
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These animals have an eight-fold symmetry. Most are colonial sessile polyps. Octocorallia look like the stony corals. Stony corals have a six-fold symmetry, and are classified in the group Hexacorallia. Unlike the stony corals, most Octocoralllia lack a lasting skeleton. For this reason, they do not build coral reefs. An older name for this group is Alcyonaria.
Many species form symbioses with unicellular algae. Octocorallia have many enemies: For this reason, many are toxic, or they taste bad. Many species of the Octocorallia can reproduce both sexually and asexually: It is common to find a colony of Octocorallia, where most polyps have the same sex.
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