The question whether the Alcyonaria can form an important part of the dietary of fish or other carnivorous animals may be economically important. Fragments of the Pennatulid _Virgularia_ have been found in the stomachs of cod and other fish, but with this exception there is no evidence that any genus is systematically or even occasionally preyed upon by any animal. With a very {340}few exceptions Alcyonaria show no signs of having been torn, bitten, or wounded by carnivorous animals. It is improbable that the presence of nematocysts in the tentacles can account for this immunity, as it is known that some predaceous animals do feed upon Coelenterates provided with much larger nematocysts than any Alcyonarian possesses. All Alcyonaria, however, have a characteristic disagreeable odour, and it is possible, as in many other cases, that this is accompanied by an unpleasant taste. But if the Alcyonaria themselves are immune, it is possible that their large yolk-laden eggs may form a not unimportant source of food supply. In places where large colonies flourish, an immense number of eggs or embryos must be discharged into the water during the spawning season, and of these only a minute fraction can survive long enough to found a new colony. REPRODUCTION.—The formation of colonies by gemmation has frequently been mentioned above. The young buds of a colony arise from the endoderm canals in the body-wall of the zooids, in the general coenenchym, or in the stolon. They never arise from evagination of the coelenteric cavities of the zooids. There is no evidence that fission of a colony to form secondary colonies ever occurs. Gemmation leads to the increase in the number of zooids forming a colony, but not to an increase in the number of colonies. Fission of the zooids is of extremely rare occurrence; a single case, however, has been recorded by Studer in the genus _Gersemia_. Sexual reproduction usually occurs once in a year; it is doubtful whether it ever occurs continuously. The colonies appear to be nearly always dioecious, only one case of hermaphroditism having yet been recorded.[370] The ova and sperm sacs are usually formed and matured on the six ventral mesenteries, rarely on the dorsal pair of mesenteries (Fig. 148, B) as well. The spawning season varies with the locality. _Alcyonium digitatum_ spawns at Plymouth at the end of December, and somewhat later at Port Erin. The Pennatulid _Renilla_ and the Gorgonid _Leptogorgia_ spawn in the summer months on the coast of North America. In the Mediterranean _Alcyonium palmatum_ spawns in September and October (Lo Bianco), _Gorgonia cavolinii_ in May and June.