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....