What is Hexacorallia?
Q: What is Hexacorallia?
A: Hexacorallia is a large subclass of Anthozoa in the aquatic phylum Cnidaria that includes about 4,300 species of all polyps, generally with 6-fold symmetry.
Q: What are some examples of marine organisms in Hexacorallia?
A: Hexacorallia includes all the stony corals, most of which are colonial and reef-forming. It also contains the sea anemones, tube anemones, and zoanthids in six living orders.
Q: How is Hexacorallia different from Octocorallia?
A: Hexacorallia is distinguished from Octocorallia by having six or less axes of symmetry in their body structure and only single rows of tentacles.
Q: How do the organisms in Hexacorallia reproduce?
A: Like all Cnidarians, organisms in Hexacorallia have a complex life cycle including a mobile planktonic phase and a later sessile phase.
Q: What is the calcite skeleton in some species of Hexacorallia?
A: The calcite skeleton is a structure secreted by some species of Hexacorallia.
Q: What are the extinct orders of Hexacorallia?
A: The extinct orders of Hexacorallia are the rugose corals and tabulate corals, which built the coral reefs of the Palaeozoic era.
Q: How important is Hexacorallia in the marine ecosystem?
A: Hexacorallia has always been an important group of marine organisms, including both extinct and living species. The fact that there are a total of eight extinct orders of the Hexacorallia demonstrates its significance.
