Corallimorpharia

Corallimorpharia
For stony mushroom corals, see Fungiidae.
Corallimorpharia
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Cnidaria
Class: Anthozoa
Subclass: Hexacorallia
Order: Corallimorpharia
Families
  • Actinodiscidae
  • Corallimorphidae
  • Discosomatidae
  • Ricordeidae
  • Sideractiidae

Corallimorpharia is an order of marine cnidarians closely related to the true sea anemones (Actiniaria). They are mostly tropical, with a narrow column topped with a wide oral disc. The tentacles are usually short or very short, arranged in rows radiating from the mouth. Many species occur together in large groups. In many respects, they resemble the stony corals, except for the absence of a stony skeleton.

They occur in a wide range of marine habitats, and are associated with phase shifts in coral reefs that change from hard-coral dominated to soft-coral dominated.

References

  • UFL Zoology - Cnidaria
  • Barnes, Robert D. (1982). Invertebrate Zoology. Philadelphia, PA: Holt-Saunders International. p. 170. ISBN 0-03-056747-5. 

Gallery

Media related to Corallimorpharia at Wikimedia Commons

External links

Data related to Discosomatidae at Wikispecies

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