Pachyphylliidae
M. Beauvais, 1982
Diagnosis
Colonial. Corallum often massive or subhemispherical, or small and knobby or sublamellar. Corallites are plocoid to subcerioid or submeandroid. Colonies form by various forms of extracalicular and intracalicular budding, including marginal types, as well as transverse division. Costosepta compact, radially and bilaterally arranged, margins beaded. Septal flanks are irregularly covered by short spines and granules that are often less than 50 µm. Their shapes include rounded granules, short thorns, and carinae-like forms. Centers of trabeculae that form mid-septal lines are irregularly present or absent. Costae well developed or reduced. Columella trabecular, occurring in varying shapes including spongy, papillose, lamellar, made of twisted lamellar segments, and irregularly trabecular. Synapticulae sparse, occurring throughout the corallum or restricted to the wall. Endothecal dissepiments vesicular or subtabular. Peritheca present, often well developed. Exotheca present or absent. Pali or paliform lobes absent or present. Trabeculae arranged in an alternating, zig-zag fashion (see ALLOITEAU, 1957, p. 126). Wall parasynapticulothecal with or without both pores and septothecal thickenings.
Remarks
This family includes the family Pachyphylliidae Loeser, 2012, p. 541 (ex Pachyphylliidae Alloiteau, 1957) which represents both a junior synonym and junior homonym of Beauvais' family. While Alloiteau (1957) created the genus Pachyphyllia, he, however, did not create the family Pachyphylliidae but questionably assigned the genus Pachyphyllia to the subfamily Phyllocoeniinae Alloiteau, 1952. And based on the taxonomic concept Alloiteau had previously introduced in 1952, he viewed the Phyllocoeniinae as a subfamily of the family Smilotrochidae Alloiteau, 1952.
Contains
This page has been in preparation since 02-Oct-2009 17:15
This version was contributed by Rosemarie Baron-Szabo on 20-Jun-2016 21:29.
Page authors are: Rosemarie Baron-Szabo. Please contact the editor if you would like to contribute to the diagnosis of this taxon.
The editor is: Rosemarie Baron-Szabo
|