Bamboo coral
Encyclopedia
Bamboo coral, family Isididae, is a family of mostly deep-sea
Deep sea
The deep sea, or deep layer, is the lowest layer in the ocean, existing below the thermocline and above the seabed, at a depth of 1000 fathoms or more. Little or no light penetrates this part of the ocean and most of the organisms that live there rely for subsistence on falling organic matter...

 coral
Coral
Corals are marine animals in class Anthozoa of phylum Cnidaria typically living in compact colonies of many identical individual "polyps". The group includes the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton.A coral "head" is a colony of...

 of the phylum Cnidaria
Cnidaria
Cnidaria is a phylum containing over 9,000 species of animals found exclusively in aquatic and mostly marine environments. Their distinguishing feature is cnidocytes, specialized cells that they use mainly for capturing prey. Their bodies consist of mesoglea, a non-living jelly-like substance,...

, class Anthozoa
Anthozoa
Anthozoa is a class within the phylum Cnidaria that contains the sea anemones and corals. Unlike other cnidarians, anthozoans do not have a medusa stage in their development. Instead, they release sperm and eggs that form a planula, which attaches to some substrate on which the cnidarian grows...

, and subclass Octocorallia. It is a commonly recognized inhabitant of the deep sea, due to the clearly articulated skeletons of the species. Deep water coral
Deep water coral
The habitat of deep water corals, also known as cold water corals, extends to deeper, darker parts of the oceans than tropical corals, ranging from near the surface to the abyss, beyond where water temperatures may be as cold as 4°C...

 species such as this are especially affected by the practice of bottom trawling
Bottom trawling
Bottom trawling is trawling along the sea floor. It is also often referred to as "dragging".The scientific community divides bottom trawling into benthic trawling and demersal trawling...

. These organisms may be an important environmental indicator in the study of long term climate change, as some specimens of bamboo coral have been discovered that are 4,000 years old.

Description

Relatively little is known about bamboo coral. The skeletons of bamboo coral are made up of calcium carbonate
Calcium carbonate
Calcium carbonate is a chemical compound with the formula CaCO3. It is a common substance found in rocks in all parts of the world, and is the main component of shells of marine organisms, snails, coal balls, pearls, and eggshells. Calcium carbonate is the active ingredient in agricultural lime,...

 in the form of tree-like branches alternating with joint-like nodes or axes composed of gorgonin
Gorgonin
Gorgonin is a complex protein that makes up the horny skeleton of the holaxonia suborder of gorgonians. It frequently contains appreciable quantities of bromine, iodine, and tyrosine.-Scientific use:...

 protein. The alternation of the bony structures with the smaller gorgonin
Gorgonin
Gorgonin is a complex protein that makes up the horny skeleton of the holaxonia suborder of gorgonians. It frequently contains appreciable quantities of bromine, iodine, and tyrosine.-Scientific use:...

 parts give the bamboo coral a finger-like appearance similar to that of the bamboo
Bamboo
Bamboo is a group of perennial evergreens in the true grass family Poaceae, subfamily Bambusoideae, tribe Bambuseae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family....

 plant on land.
Bamboo coral was reported in 2005 to have been found on a dozen seamount
Seamount
A seamount is a mountain rising from the ocean seafloor that does not reach to the water's surface , and thus is not an island. These are typically formed from extinct volcanoes, that rise abruptly and are usually found rising from a seafloor of depth. They are defined by oceanographers as...

s in the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

 between Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...

, and Kodiak, Alaska
Kodiak, Alaska
Kodiak is one of 7 communities and the main city on Kodiak Island, Kodiak Island Borough, in the U.S. state of Alaska. All commercial transportation between the entire island and the outside world goes through this city either via ferryboat or airline...

. Although the ages and growth rates for most deep water coral are not yet available, specimens of bamboo coral found in the Gulf of Alaska
Gulf of Alaska
The Gulf of Alaska is an arm of the Pacific Ocean defined by the curve of the southern coast of Alaska, stretching from the Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak Island in the west to the Alexander Archipelago in the east, where Glacier Bay and the Inside Passage are found.The entire shoreline of the Gulf is...

 have been estimated to have a life span of from 75 to 126 years, based on radiocarbon-based growth rate and age data.

Recently, a mission funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration , pronounced , like "noah", is a scientific agency within the United States Department of Commerce focused on the conditions of the oceans and the atmosphere...

 (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
Northwestern Hawaiian Islands
The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands or the Leeward Islands are the small islands and atolls in the Hawaiian island chain located northwest of the islands of Kauai and Niihau. They are administered by the U.S. state of Hawaii except Midway Atoll, which has temporary residential facilities and is...

, using the Pisces V
Pisces V
Pisces V is a deep-submergence vehicle of the Pisces class built in 1973.Pisces V is type of manned submersible ocean exploration device, powered by battery, and capable of operating to depths of 2000 m , a depth that is optimum for use in the sea waters around the Hawaiian Islands...

. Of these seven new species, six may represent completely new genera
Genera
Genera is a commercial operating system and development environment for Lisp machines developed by Symbolics. It is essentially a fork of an earlier operating system originating on the MIT AI Lab's Lisp machines which Symbolics had used in common with LMI and Texas Instruments...

 (that is, major new classification categories). Data from these findings are still being analyzed. 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 10000 square feet (929 m²) and more than 2000 feet (609.6 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.

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
Ocean acidification
Ocean acidification is the name given to the ongoing decrease in the pH and increase in acidity of the Earth's oceans, caused by the uptake of anthropogenic carbon dioxide from the atmosphere....

 caused by excess carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom...

, 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". Deep water coral organisms such as bamboo coral are especially affected by the practice of bottom trawling
Bottom trawling
Bottom trawling is trawling along the sea floor. It is also often referred to as "dragging".The scientific community divides bottom trawling into benthic trawling and demersal trawling...

.

Other research has raised the possibility that Isididae corals, because of their potential to mimic biological properties, may potentially be used as living bone implants as well as in aquatic cultivation.

Genera

The following genera
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 are currently described in the Isididae family, according to the 2009 Catalogue of life
Catalogue of Life
The Catalogue of Life, started in June 2001 by Species 2000 and Integrated Taxonomic Information System , is planned to become a comprehensive catalogue of all known species of organisms on Earth by the year 2011. 66 taxonomic databases with contributions from more than 3,000 specialists from...

:

Acanella
Acanella
Acanella is a genus of deep-sea bamboo coral of the Isididae family....


Acanthoisis
Acanthoisis
Acanthoisis is a genus of deep-sea bamboo coral of the Isididae family....


Annisis
Annisis
Annisis is a monotypic genus of deep-sea bamboo coral of the Isididae family....


Australisis
Australisis
Australisis is a genus of deep-sea bamboo coral of the Isididae family....


Caribisis
Caribisis
Caribisis is a genus of deep-sea bamboo coral of the Isididae family....


Chathamisis
Chathamisis
Chathamisis is a genus of deep-sea bamboo coral of the Isididae family....


Chelidonisis
Chelidonisis
Chelidonisis is a genus of deep-sea bamboo coral of the Isididae family....


Circinisis
Circinisis
Circinisis is a genus of deep-sea bamboo coral of the Isididae family....


Echinisis
Echinisis
Echinisis is a genus of deep-sea bamboo coral of the Isididae family....


Florectisis
Florectisis
Florectisis is a genus of deep-sea bamboo coral of the Isididae family....


Gorgonisis
Gorgonisis
Gorgonisis is a genus of deep-sea bamboo coral of the Isididae family....


Iotisis
Iotisis
Iotisis is a genus of deep-sea bamboo coral of the Isididae family....


Isidella
Isidella
Isidella is a genus of deep-sea bamboo coral of the Isididae family....


Isis
Isis (genus)
Isis is a genus of deep-sea bamboo coral of the Isididae family....


Jasminisis
Jasminisis
Jasminisis is a genus of deep-sea bamboo coral of the Isididae family....


Keratoisis
Keratoisis
Keratoisis is a genus of deep-sea bamboo coral of the Isididae family....


Ktenosquamisis
Ktenosquamisis
Ktenosquamisis is a genus of deep-sea bamboo coral of the Isididae family....


Lepidisis
Lepidisis
Lepidisis is a genus of deep-sea bamboo coral of the Isididae family. It contains eleven or twelve species.-Species:Lepidisis caryophyllia - Verrill, 1883Lepidisis cyanae - Grasshoff, 1986Lepidisis evalinae - Bayer, 1989...


Lissopholidisis
Lissopholidisis
Lissopholidisis is a genus of deep-sea bamboo coral of the Isididae family....


Minuisis
Minuisis
Minuisis is a genus of deep-sea bamboo coral of the Isididae family....


Mopsea
Mopsea
Mopsea is a genus of deep-sea bamboo coral of the Isididae family....


Muricellisis
Muricellisis
Muricellisis is a genus of deep-sea bamboo coral of the Isididae family....


Myriozoisis
Myriozoisis
Myriozoisis is a genus of deep-sea bamboo coral of the Isididae family....


Notisis
Notisis
Notisis is a genus of deep-sea bamboo coral of the Isididae family....


Oparinisis
Oparinisis
Oparinisis is a genus of deep-sea bamboo coral of the Isididae family....


Orstomisis
Orstomisis
Orstomisis is a genus of deep-sea bamboo coral of the Isididae family....


Pangolinisis
Pangolinisis
Pangolinisis is a genus of deep-sea bamboo coral of the Isididae family....


Paracanthoisis
Paracanthoisis
Paracanthoisis is a genus of deep-sea bamboo coral of the Isididae family....


Peltastisis
Peltastisis
Peltastisis is a genus of deep-sea bamboo coral of the Isididae family....


Plexipomisis
Plexipomisis
Plexipomisis is a genus of deep-sea bamboo coral of the Isididae family....


Primnoisis
Primnoisis
Primnoisis is a genus of deep-sea bamboo coral of the Isididae family....


Pteronisis
Pteronisis
Pteronisis is a genus of deep-sea bamboo coral of the Isididae family....


Sclerisis
Sclerisis
Sclerisis is a genus of deep-sea bamboo coral of the Isididae family....


Sphaerokodisis
Sphaerokodisis
Sphaerokodisis is a genus of deep-sea bamboo coral of the Isididae family....


Stenisis
Stenisis
Stenisis is a genus of deep-sea bamboo coral of the Isididae family....


Tenuisis
Tenuisis
Tenuisis is a genus of deep-sea bamboo coral of the Isididae family....


Tethrisis
Tethrisis
Tethrisis is a genus of deep-sea bamboo coral of the Isididae family....

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