Mussidae
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Mussidae is a family of
stony coral Scleractinia, also called stony corals or hard corals, are marine animals in the phylum Cnidaria that build themselves a hard skeleton. The individual animals are known as polyps and have a cylindrical body crowned by an oral disc in which a mo ...
in the order
Scleractinia Scleractinia, also called stony corals or hard corals, are marine animals in the phylum Cnidaria that build themselves a hard skeleton. The individual animals are known as polyps and have a cylindrical body crowned by an oral disc in which a mo ...
. Following a taxonomic revision in 2012, the family is now restricted to species found in the Atlantic Ocean, with Pacific species transferred to the new family
Lobophylliidae Lobophylliidae is a Family (biology), family of large polyp Scleractinia, stony corals. The family was created in 2009 after a revision of the "robust" families of Faviidae, Merulinidae, Mussidae and Pectiniidae, which had been shown to be Polyph ...
. Many species are referred to as
brain coral Brain coral is a common name given to various corals in the families Mussidae and Merulinidae, so called due to their generally spheroid shape and grooved surface which resembles a brain. Each head of coral is formed by a colony of geneticall ...
because their generally spheroid form and grooved surface resembles the convolutions of a brain. Members of this family are found in the
reef aquarium A reef aquarium or reef tank is a marine aquarium that prominently displays live corals and other marine invertebrates as well as fish that play a role in maintaining the tropical coral reef environment. A reef aquarium requires appropriately i ...
trade. Though popular in captivity, they are under threat from environmental destruction like
coral bleaching Coral bleaching is the process when corals become white due to loss of Symbiosis, symbiotic algae and Photosynthesis, photosynthetic pigments. This loss of pigment can be caused by various stressors, such as changes in water temperature, light, ...
. The Mussidae is one of the coral families most vulnerable to climate change.


Taxonomy

The family Mussidae has long been recognised on morphological grounds but recent
molecular analysis Genetic testing, also known as DNA testing, is used to identify changes in DNA sequence or chromosome structure. Genetic testing can also include measuring the results of genetic changes, such as RNA analysis as an output of gene expression, or ...
has shown that it, and several other related families, are
polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage that includes organisms with mixed evolutionary origin but does not include their most recent common ancestor. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as Homoplasy, homoplasies ...
, the similarities between the species having occurred through
convergent evolution Convergent evolution is the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time. Convergent evolution creates analogous structures that have similar form or function but were not present in the last comm ...
. Additionally, some traditional genera such as '' Favia'' and '' Scolymia'' have been found to be polyphyletic, with the Atlantic faviids and scolymids being more closely related to each other than they are to their Pacific relatives. A revised classification, proposed in 2012, places the Pacific species in a new family,
Lobophylliidae Lobophylliidae is a Family (biology), family of large polyp Scleractinia, stony corals. The family was created in 2009 after a revision of the "robust" families of Faviidae, Merulinidae, Mussidae and Pectiniidae, which had been shown to be Polyph ...
and retains the taxon Mussidae for the Atlantic species. The family Faviidae is reduced to a
subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...
of Mussidae, Faviinae.


Genera

The
World Register of Marine Species The World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) is a taxonomic database that aims to provide an authoritative and comprehensive catalogue and list of names of marine organisms. Content The content of the registry is edited and maintained by scien ...
includes the following genera in the family: *Subfamily Faviinae Gregory, 1900 **'' Colpophyllia'' Milne Edwards & Haime, 1848 **'' Diploria'' Milne Edwards & Haime, 1848 **'' Favia'' Milne Edwards, 1857 **'' Manicina'' Ehrenberg, 1834 **'' Mussismilia'' Ortmann, 1890 **'' Pseudodiploria'' Fukami, Budd & Knowlton, 2012 *Subfamily Mussinae Ortmann, 1890 **''
Isophyllia ''Isophyllia'' is a genus of Scleractinia, stony coral in the subfamily Mussinae of the Family (biology), family Mussidae. Characteristics ''Isophyllia'' is a Colony (biology), colonial coral. Budding is always intracalicular, occurring inside t ...
'' Milne Edwards & Haime, 1851 **'' Mussa'' Oken, 1815 **'' Mycetophyllia'' Milne Edwards & Haime, 1848 **'' Scolymia'' Haime, 1852 **'' Variabilifavia'' Barta-Calmus, 1973


Description

Mussids are hermatypic or reef-building corals and can be either solitary or colonial. They are generally massive corals with robust, dense skeletons. The
corallite A corallite is the skeletal cup, formed by an individual stony coral polyp, in which the polyp sits and into which it can retract. The cup is composed of aragonite, a crystalline form of calcium carbonate, and is secreted by the polyp. Corallit ...
s (stony cups secreted by the polyps in which they sit) are large, with the
septa SEPTA, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, is a regional public transportation authority that operates bus, rapid transit, commuter rail, light rail, and electric trolleybus services for nearly four million people througho ...
(stony ridges) decorated by long teeth. The polyps are large and fleshy, and in certain species, the body cavity becomes inflated with water during the day, partially revealing the underlying skeleton. All species are zooxanthellate, that is, they contain
symbiotic Symbiosis (Ancient Greek : living with, companionship < : together; and ''bíōsis'': living) is any type of a close and long-term biolo ...
, single-celled
photosynthetic Photosynthesis ( ) is a Biological system, system of biological processes by which Photoautotrophism, photosynthetic organisms, such as most plants, algae, and cyanobacteria, convert light energy, typically from sunlight, into the chemical ener ...
dinoflagellate The Dinoflagellates (), also called Dinophytes, are a monophyletic group of single-celled eukaryotes constituting the phylum Dinoflagellata and are usually considered protists. Dinoflagellates are mostly marine plankton, but they are also commo ...
s that live in the tissues and provide the coral with nutrients produced by photosynthesis during the day. At night, the tentacles of the polyps expand and capture
zooplankton Zooplankton are the heterotrophic component of the planktonic community (the " zoo-" prefix comes from ), having to consume other organisms to thrive. Plankton are aquatic organisms that are unable to swim effectively against currents. Consequent ...
. Budding in mussids is always intracalicular, that is to say occurring inside the oral disc of the polyp, within the whorl of tentacles. The
corallite A corallite is the skeletal cup, formed by an individual stony coral polyp, in which the polyp sits and into which it can retract. The cup is composed of aragonite, a crystalline form of calcium carbonate, and is secreted by the polyp. Corallit ...
s are either separate, or arranged in series, and when the coenosteum is present, it extends beyond the wall of the septa ("costate"). The septal teeth are pointed and even, either arranged transversely to the plane of the septa or in random directions. With the exception of '' Scolymia lacera'', the teeth are the same size in each cycle of septa. The
columella Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella (, Arabic: ) was a prominent Roman writer on agriculture in the Roman Empire. His in twelve volumes has been completely preserved and forms an important source on Roman agriculture and ancient Roman cuisin ...
is "trabecular", in that it lacks discrete individual corallites, because the budding of new polyps within the tentacles on the oral disc results in a series of mouths surrounded by a continuous whorl of tentacles; such intramural budding results in "trabecular" mouths, which are not individually encircled by tentacles. The resulting corallites that merge form the meandering valleys between costate septa typical of brain corals.


In aquaria

Mussids are sometimes kept in reef aquaria but are very slow growing. They need to be kept well separate from other corals but are easy to care for. They are voracious feeders.


References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q140241 Scleractinia Cnidarian families