Flabellum pavoninum | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Cnidaria |
Class: | Hexacorallia |
Order: | Scleractinia |
Family: | Flabellidae |
Genus: | Flabellum |
Species: | F. pavoninum
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Binomial name | |
Flabellum pavoninum Lesson, 1831 [1]
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Synonyms[1] | |
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Flabellum pavoninum is a species of deep sea coral belonging to the family Flabellidae. It is found in the western Indo-Pacific Ocean at depths varying from 73 to 665 m (240 to 2,182 ft).[1] They are sometimes known as dentures of the sea because of the perceived resemblance of the corallum (skeleton) to a set of dentures.[2]
Flabellum pavoninum is an azooxanthellate species of coral; this means that its tissues do not contain photosynthetic algae and it gains its nutrition solely from what it can catch with its tentacles from the surrounding water.[1]