Anthemiphyllia Pourtalès 1878

Introduction

Members of this family are known from the Late Eocene (about 45 million years ago, see Wells, 1977) to the Recent, and occur in the tropical and warm temperate Indo-West Pacific and tropical western Atlantic regions at depths of 50 to 700 m. Because they occur in relatively deep water they are exclusively azooxanthellate. Consequently, anthemiphylliids are relatively small, the largest known being a flat, disc-shaped corallum 21 mm in diameter. Seven Recent species are known (Cairns, 1999), as well as two fossil species.

Anthemiphylliids are exclusively solitary and usually discoidal to bowl-shaped in growth form, never forming colonies. One species, A. frustum, is known to reproduce asexually by transverse division. Although not the only faviine genus to be solitary, Anthemiphyllia is one of the few genera of the suborder Faviina to have this growth form (see Best and Hoeksema, 1987). Most anthemiphylliids live unattached to a substratum, but some species retain an attachment, especially in the young stages. One species, A. dentata, is the host for the galls of parasitic ascothoracidan Crustacea (Grygier, 1991).

Characteristics

Exclusively solitary, discoidal to bowl-shaped coralla; wall septothecate, usually costate. No epitheca or endotheca. Septa composed of a single fan system of simple trabeculae, but producing a coarsely dentate (laciniate) septal margin.

Discussion of Phylogenetic Relationships

No phylogenetic analysis has been performed on the species of Anthemiphyllia.

Other Names for Anthemiphyllia Pourtalès 1878

• Anthemiphylliidae Vaughan 1907

References

Best, M. B., and B. W. Hoeksema. 1987. New observations on scleractinian corals from Indonesia: 1. Free-living species belonging to the Faviina. Zoologische Mededelingen, 61(27): 387-403.

Cairns, S. D. 1979. The deep-water Scleractinia of the Caribbean Sea and adjacent waters. Studies on the Fauna of Curaçao and other Caribbean Islands, 57: 341 pp.

Cairns, S. D. 1994. Scleractinia of the temperate North Pacific. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology, 557: 150 pp.

Cairns, S. D. 1999. Cnidaria Anthozoa: Deep-Water Azooxanthellate Scleractinia from Vanuatu, and Wallis and Futuna Islands. Mémoires du Muséum National d.Histoire Naturelle, 180: 31-167, including 22 plates, 2 figures.

Grygier, M. J. 1991. Additions to the ascothoracidan fauna of Australia and south-east Asia (Crustacea, Maxillopoda): Synagogidae (part), Lauridae and Petrarcidae. Records of the Australian Museum, 43: 1-46.

Romano, S. L. and S. D. Cairns. 2000. Molecular phylogenetic hypotheses for the evolution of scleractinian corals. Bull. Mar. Sci., 67(3): 1043-1068.

Vaughan, T. W. 1907. Recent Madreporaria of the Hawaiian Islands and Laysan. Bulletin of the United States National Museum, 59: 427 pp.

Wells, J. W. 1956. Scleractinia. Pp. F328-F444 In: Moore, R. C. (editor) Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology, Part F: Coelenterata. University of Kansas Press, Lawrence.

Wells, J. W. 1977 (1976). Eocene corals from Eua, Tonga. Geological Survey Professional Paper, 640G: G1-G18.