rhizosessile

Rhizosessile forms. - Several ketophyllid, cystiphyllid and operculate rugose corals are rhizosessile, characterized by having rhizoid (= rootlike) holdfasts which supplied secondary support to the corallites.

1988, Bjorn Neuman, “Some aspects of life strategies of Early Palaeozoic rugose corals”, in Lethaia, volume 21, page 110

The use of the spines to support the shell above the substrate and the mode of life has been discussed by Rohr and Packard (1984), who concluded that it was an adaptation for a firm substrate. The presence of the rhizosessile rugose coral Rhyzophyllum in the same beds suggests that other benthic taxa had adaptations to a soft substrate.

2008 May, David M Rohr, Robert B Blodgett, Jirí Fryda, “Silurian gastropoda from southeastern and west-central Alaska”, in Journal of Paleontology, volume 82, number 3

The rhizoid structures support the further growth of corals displaying a rhizosessile life strategy (sensu Neuman) and are typical of relatively large solitary corals living within soft-bottom environments. This type of attachment helps maintain a stable position, being connected to other embedded and stable hard particles.

2018 October, Błażej Berkowski, Mikołaj K. Zapalski, “Large dwellers of the Silurian Halysites biostrome: rhizosessile life strategies of cystiphyllid rugose corals from the Llandovery of Gotland”, in Lethaia, volume 51, number 4, →DOI, page 590