Revision of the Suborders Families, and Genera of the Scleractinia

Abstract

This revision is the result of a study of the genotype species, mostly of type or topotype specimens, of nearly every described scleractinian genus. The classification proposed rests primarily on the structure of the septa, but other skeletal structures as well as the soft parts are utilized and considered. The order Scleractinia is divided into five suborders: Astrocoeniida, Fungiida, Faviida, Caryophylliida, and Dendrophylliida. The first is quite distinct from the others and includes corals with septa composed of relatively few trabeculae. The other four include corals in which the septa consist of a relatively large number of trabeculae. The Fungiida is marked by the fundamentally fenestrate arrangement of the trabeculae, whereas the arrangement is laminar in the Faviida, Caryophylliida, and Dendrophylliida. In the Faviida the septal margins are dentate; in the Caryophylliida they are smooth; and in the Dendrophylliida some septa may become secondarily lacerate or dentate. The subdivision of the suborders into lesser categories is based upon the modification of septal structure and other skeletal elements, mode of colony - formation, form of the corallum, and phylogeny of the groups.