Phylum: Cnidaria

Class: Anthozoa

Subclass: Octocorallia

Order: Alcyonacea

Family: Alcyoniidae

Scientific name: Alcyonium digitatum

 

Norwegian: dødmannshånd

(Åsenfjorden - The Trondheim fjord / 26 meters / 6.17.2001)

Distribution: Dead man's finger are found as far north as western parts of Finnmark. It prefers some current exposure.

Characteristics: Colors vary from almost white to deep orange. It can grow to a height of 20 cm. Each polyp has eight arms. Sometimes the polyps retract into the stem, and the reason for the name becomes more obvious.

Biology: All polyps of a colony are usually of the same agenda, but hermaphrodites exist too.

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