Organ pipe coral

Organ pipe coral
	Live organ pipe coral
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Cnidaria
Class:	Octocorallia
Order:	Alcyonacea
Family:	Tubiporidae
Genus:	Tubipora
Species:	T. musica
Binomial name
	Tubipora musica; Linnaeus, 1758
Synonyms
	Tubipora purpurea Pallas, 1766;

The organ pipe coral (Tubipora musica) is an alcyonarian octocoral native to the waters of the Indian Ocean and the central and western regions of the Pacific Ocean.^[1] It is the only known species of the genus Tubipora. This species is a soft coral but with a unique, hard skeleton of calcium carbonate that contains many organ pipe-like tubes. On each tube is a series of polyps which each have eight feather-like tentacles. These tentacles are usually extended during the day, but will swiftly withdraw with any sort of disturbance. The skeleton is a bright red color, but is typically obscured by numerous polyps. Because of this, living colonies are typically green, blue, or purple due to the color of the expanded polyps.^[2] Colonies are typically dome-shaped and can reach up to 3 meters across,^[2]^[3] while the individual polyps are typically less than 3 mm wide and a few mm long. They are close relatives to other soft coral and sea fans. This species is a popular aquarium coral due to its ease to maintain, as well as higher tolerance compared to most true corals.^[4] However, its popularity presents a problem: along with its potential as an aquarium coral, the species' coloration makes it a popular commodity for tourists, leading to a variety of threats to the population.

^ Ammar, Mohammed S. A. (2005-05-26). "An alarming threat to the red organ pipe coral Tubipora musica and suggested solutions". Ecological Research. 20 (5): 529–535. doi:10.1007/s11284-005-0064-7. ISSN 0912-3814. S2CID 44760888.
^ ^a ^b ANDERSON, PETER A. V. (June 1976). "The electrophysiology of the organ-pipe coral, Tubipora musica". The Biological Bulletin. 150 (3): 337–347. doi:10.2307/1540676. ISSN 0006-3185. JSTOR 1540676. PMID 8160.
^ Felix., Spiro, Baruch (1971). Ultrastructure and chemistry of the skeleton of Tubipora musica Linné. OCLC 633208230.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ Tullock, John (2001). Natural reef aquariums : simplified approaches to creating living saltwater microcosms. TFH-Microcosm. ISBN 1-890087-00-9. OCLC 1011858098.

[:0-1] Ammar, Mohammed S. A. (2005-05-26). "An alarming threat to the red organ pipe coral Tubipora musica and suggested solutions". Ecological Research. 20 (5): 529–535. doi:10.1007/s11284-005-0064-7. ISSN 0912-3814. S2CID 44760888.

[:1-2] ANDERSON, PETER A. V. (June 1976). "The electrophysiology of the organ-pipe coral, Tubipora musica". The Biological Bulletin. 150 (3): 337–347. doi:10.2307/1540676. ISSN 0006-3185. JSTOR 1540676. PMID 8160.

[3] Felix., Spiro, Baruch (1971). Ultrastructure and chemistry of the skeleton of Tubipora musica Linné. OCLC 633208230.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

[:2-4] Tullock, John (2001). Natural reef aquariums : simplified approaches to creating living saltwater microcosms. TFH-Microcosm. ISBN 1-890087-00-9. OCLC 1011858098.

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