Stylopathidae Opresko, 2006

Lima, Manuela M., Cordeiro, Ralf T. S. & Perez, Carlos D., 2019, Black Corals (Anthozoa: Antipatharia) from the Southwestern Atlantic, Zootaxa 4692 (1), pp. 1-67 : 53

Family Stylopathidae Opresko, 2006

Diagnosis. “Corallum monopodial, branched irregularly, or flabellate. Pinnules or branchlets tending to occur, to varying degrees, in subopposite pairs and/or in verticils. Overlapping branchlets and pinnules sometimes adhering and/or anastomosing. Pinnules and branchlets sometimes forming reticulated, cylindrical worm-runs. Central canal of branchlets/pinnules usually very narrow. Spines smooth, conical, simple, with acute or rounded apex; height generally not much more than about twice the width at the base; subequal in size around the circumference of the axis or slightly longer on the polypar side; inclined distally or extending out at right angles; sometimes directed proximally. Spines on branches and stem, when present, usually appearing narrower and more terete than those on pinnules and branchlets, but often worn away on lower section of stem and on basal plate. Arrangement of spines in rows becoming more irregular on larger branches and stem. Polyps on smallest branchlets/pinnules appearing slightly elongated in axial direction; 0.5 to 1.5 mm in transverse diameter; arranged in a single, although not strictly regular, series and usually separated by a distinct interpolypar space. Tentacles (in preserved material), relatively short, cylindrical, with rounded apex; subequal in size, and generally not longer than the transverse diameter of the polyps” ( Opresko, 2006).