Schizopathes Brook, 1889

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 : 37

Genus Schizopathes Brook, 1889

Type-species. Schizopathes crassa Brook, 1889 (original designation by inference, see Opresko, 1997:158).

Diagnosis. Corallum monopodial and pinnulate, unattached, with hook-like holdfast for support in soft sediments. Pinnules simple, bilateral and alternate. Spines simple, triangular, compressed. Polyps 3–6 mm in transverse diameter ( Opresko, 2002).

Remarks. The genus Schizopathes Brook, 1889 is the only one, within the order, to harbor species that do not depend on hard substrates for fixation, presenting a modified hook for support in soft bottoms ( Wagner, 2015; Opresko, 1997). Some species of the genus Alternatipathes , and in particular, A. alternata (Brook) are almost identical to species of Schizopathes with the exception that they have a basal holdfast for attaching to hard substrates.

Distribution. Cosmopolitan ( Molodtsova, 2014).