Sphenopus Steenstrup, 1856

Low, Martyn E. Y., Sinniger, Frederic & Reimer, James Davis, 2016, The order Zoantharia Rafinesque, 1815 (Cnidaria, Anthozoa: Hexacorallia): supraspecific classification and nomenclature, ZooKeys 641, pp. 1-80 : 5

publication ID	https://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.641.10346
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:903D6413-C802-4864-A662-D71C50740E2D
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/A537FF85-6626-2877-4C46-E4653F496E90
treatment provided by	ZooKeys by Pensoft
scientific name	Sphenopus Steenstrup, 1856
status

Treatment

Sphenopus Steenstrup, 1856: 37.

Type species.

Sabella marsupialis Gmelin, 1791, by monotypy.

Gender.

Masculine.

Diagnosis.

Unitary (=solitary, non-colonial) brachycnemic zoantharians with sand/detritus incrustation in the ectoderm and mesoglea.

Remarks.

Distinct, large unitary polyps found embedded in sandy habitats with the oral disc clear of, and not attached to substrate ( Soong et al. 1999, Reimer et al. 2012b, 2015b). Recent molecular work has also indicated that this this genus-group may form a clade with some Palythoa spp. ( Reimer et al. 2012b, Fujii and Reimer 2016).