Have you ever wondered about the animal Acabaria Rubra? By now your probably thinking what kind of name Is Acabaria Rubra. Well, actually it is a coral-like animal that is very harmless and very satisfying to see in the ocean. Since you know a little more about this species you probably would like to see more information about it. Right? Well, i'm the right person that you can talk to about this amazing, delightful, and beautiful species.

 

The axis or main skeleton of the multicolored sea fan is jointed, there being no nodes, flexible horny joints, separated by internodes composed of hard, calcareous material. The branches divide at the nodes and these are often swollen. The flexible membrane called the mesoglea that covers the skeleton is called sclerites. Next, these species have lots of beautiful colors like red, yellow, white or pink, and the individual polyps being white, yellow, or red. In addition, the multicolored sea fan is only found around the South African coast from Bloubergstrand to East London 10-30 m. of water.

 

 Equally important, Acabaria Rubra is found on vertical surfaces on reefs and under overhangs, usually orientated perpendicularly to the water flow. It may grow in assemblages with sponges, bryozoans or tunicates.   The population is expanding larger and larger.

 

Lastly, acabaria rubra's role in the food web Is that they are the leaders of all the family. There favorite kind of food is plankton they eat it by themselves and while they are alone. It is preyed upon by the coral nudibranch, Phyllodesmium horridum, as well as the walking anemone, Preactis Millardae. By protecting itself acabaria rubra try hiding as soon as possible, wherever they are.

 

I am happy to say that I got this animal because while I did research I kept learning more and more about new and different animals. Although my research took a while I think it was worth the wait to be able to randomly pick an animal that stood out from the rest to me. They stood out because of all the amazing different colors and different shapes that they come in. I learned that acabaria rubra has only a small colony out of all the animals. Thats my report I hope u like it.

 

 

Author: Andrea C.

Published: 2/2013

 

sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multicoloured_sea_fan

 

photo credit:www.easterncapescubadiving.co.za