Biology:Scleralcyonacea
Scleralcyonacea is an order of the class Octocorallia.[1][2]
It combines the traditional taxa Calcaxonia (except the genus Isis), Pennatulacea and Helioporacea, as well as a part of Scleraxonia and a part of Stolonifera, and the genera Ideogorgia and Parasphaerasclera.[1] See below for a more detailed description.
Etymology
Scleralcyonacea was named after Greek σκληρός (sklēros, ) and former coral order Alcyonacea, as most of its members contain either an axial skeleton made of calcium carbonate or sclerites fused with calcitic material.[3]
Taxonomy
A clade combining (primarily) the Calcaxonia, the Pennatulacea and the Helioporacea was identified (but not named) as early as in a 2006 study and in several later studies; it was usually called informally the Calcaxonia-Pennatulacea clade or the Pennatulacea-Calcaxonia clade.[4][5][6][7][1]
In 2019, G. C. Williams proposed (only optionally) calling the Calcaxonia-Pennatulacea clade Calcaxonia (sensu lato),[8] but other authors did not adopt this naming proposal.
The phylogenetic study McFadden et al. 2022 assigned the name Scleralcyonacea and the rank of an order to the Calcaxonia-Pennatulacea clade. The study found Octocorallia to be divided into two monophyletic lineages (both identified already by some earlier studies[4][5]), which the study established as the orders Scleralcyonacea and Malacalcyonacea. Scleralcyonacea was found to contain:
- all taxa formerly assigned to the order Pennatulacea (i.e. the current superfamily Pennatuloidea), to the order Helioporacea (i.e. the current family Helioporidae [sensu lato]) and to the suborder Calcaxonia (inclusive of Dendrobrachia), except the genus Isis (see below);
- and a part of the suborder Scleraxonia and of the (sub)order Stolonifera;
- and the genera Ideogorgia (from the suborder Holaxonia) and Parasphaerasclera (from the suborder Alcyoniina).[9]
While the genus Isis was historically placed within Calcaxonia as a relative of Keratoisididae and Mopseidae, it was found to be unrelated, with the difference in internode growth patterns being identified as phylogenetically informative.[10]
Children
Scleralcyonacea contains the monophyletic sea pens (superfamily Pennatuloidea) as well as 21 other families and two incertae sedis genera. The order includes the following:[2]
- family Aulopsammiidae Reuss, 1854 [= Litholestidae Bayer & Muzik, 1977] (included in Helioporidae by McFadden et al. 2022) [He]
- family Briareidae Gray, 1859 [Sc]
- family Chelidonisididae Heestand Saucier, France & Watling, 2021 [Ca]
- family Chrysogorgiidae Verrill, 1883 [Ca]
- family Coralliidae Lamouroux, 1812 [Sc]
- family Cornulariidae Dana, 1846 [St]
- family Dendrobrachiidae Brook, 1889 [Ca/Ho]
- family Ellisellidae Gray, 1859 [Ca]
- family Erythropodiidae Kükenthal, 1916 [Sc]
- genus Helicogorgia Bayer, 1981 [Ca]
- family Helioporidae Moseley, 1876 [He]
- family Ideogorgiidae McFadden, van Ofwegen & Quattrini, 2024 [Ho]
- family Ifalukellidae Bayer, 1955 [Ca]
- family Isidoidae Heestand Saucier, France & Watling, 2021 [Ca]
- family Keratoisididae Gray, 1870 [Ca]
- family Mopseidae Gray, 1870 [Ca]
- family Parasphaerascleridae McFadden & van Ofwegen, 2013 [Al]
- family Parisididae Aurivillius, 1931 [Sc]
- superfamily Pennatuloidea Ehrenberg, 1834 [Pe]
- family Pleurogorgiidae Cairns, Cordeiro & Alderslade in Cairns et al., 2021 [Ca]
- family Primnoidae Milne Edwards, 1857 [Ca]
- family Sarcodictyonidae McFadden, van Ofwegen & Quattrini, 2024 [St]
- family Spongiodermidae Wright & Studer, 1889 [Sc]
- genus Stephanogorgia Bayer & Muzik, 1976 [Ca]
Legend (traditional assignment of the taxa):[1] Ca = Calcaxonia, Pe = Pennatulacea, He = Helioporacea, St = Stolonifera, Sc = Scleraxonia, Ho = Holaxonia (sensu stricto), Al = Alcyoniina.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 McFadden, Ofwegen & Quattrini 2022, p. 18.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Scleralcyonacea". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species. http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=1609355.
- ↑ McFadden, Ofwegen & Quattrini 2022, p. 21.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 McFadden, C. S.; France, S. C.; Sánchez, J. A.; Alderslade, P. (2006). "A molecular phylogenetic analysis of the Octocorallia (Cnidaria: Anthozoa) based on mitochondrial protein-coding sequences". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 41 (3): 513–527. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2006.06.010. PMID 16876445. Bibcode: 2006MolPE..41..513M.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Quattrini, Andrea M.; Rodríguez, Estefanía; Faircloth, Brant C.; Cowman, Peter F.; Brugler, Mercer R.; Farfan, Gabriela A.; Hellberg, Michael E.; Kitahara, Marcelo V. et al. (August 31, 2020). "Palaeoclimate ocean conditions shaped the evolution of corals and their skeletons through deep time" (in en). Nature Ecology & Evolution 4 (11): 1531–1538. doi:10.1038/s41559-020-01291-1. PMID 32868916. Bibcode: 2020NatEE...4.1531Q. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-020-01291-1.
- ↑ Schierwater, Bernd; DeSalle, Rob (2021-07-08). Invertebrate Zoology: A Tree of Life Approach. CRC Press. p. 176. ISBN 978-1-4822-3582-1. https://books.google.com/books?id=Bk4vEAAAQBAJ&q=%2522Calcaxonia-Pennatulacea%2520clade%2522&pg=PA176. Retrieved 2025-07-09.
- ↑ Morrissey, D.; Quattrini, A. M.; Allcock, A. L. (2025). "Analysis of mitogenomes from the family Keratoisididae reveals mitonuclear discordance and the presence of unknown open reading frames". Marine Biology 172 (3). doi:10.1007/s00227-025-04600-z. Bibcode: 2025MarBi.172...46M.
- ↑ Williams, Gary (2019). "A new genus and species of enigmatic gorgonian coral from the Ryukyu Archipelago, northwestern Pacific, with a discussion of calcaxonian systematics (Cnidaria, Anthozoa, Octocorallia)". Zootaxa 4701 (5): 417–433. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4701.5.2. PMID 32229925.
- ↑ McFadden, Ofwegen & Quattrini 2022, p. 7, 17, 18.
- ↑ McFadden, Ofwegen & Quattrini 2022, p. 15.
Works cited
- McFadden, Catherine S.; Ofwegen, Leen P. van; Quattrini, Andrea M. (14 October 2022). "Revisionary systematics of Octocorallia (Cnidaria: Anthozoa) guided by phylogenomics" (in en). Bulletin of the Society of Systematic Biologists 1 (3). doi:10.18061/bssb.v1i3.8735. ISSN 2768-0819. https://ssbbulletin.org/index.php/bssb/article/view/8735.
Bibliography
- Song, Jun-Im; Hwang, Sung-Jin; Moon, Hae-Won; An, In-Young (April 30, 2012). "Taxonomic Study of Suborder Calcaxonia (Alcyonacea: Octocorallia: Anthozoa) from King Sejong Station, Antarctic" (in en). Animal Systematics, Evolution and Diversity 28 (2): 84–96. doi:10.5635/ASED.2012.28.2.084. ISSN 2234-6953. http://koreascience.or.kr/journal/view.jsp?kj=DMBRBT&py=2012&vnc=v28n2&sp=84.
External links
Wikidata ☰ Q121239859 entry
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