A major taxonomic class of marine organisms that includes soft corals, sea fans, and sea pens, all characterized by having eight-fold symmetry in their tentacles.
From alcyon (sea coral) plus the Latinized suffix -aria, used in taxonomy to denote a class of organisms. This naming reflects the systematic classification system developed by 18th-century naturalists.
Everything in this group has exactly eight tentacles or tentacle branches—it's like Mother Nature used a template! This eight-fold symmetry makes them completely different from hard corals, which usually have six-fold symmetry.
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