Antipathes Pallas, 1766

Opresko, Dennis M. & Wagner, Daniel, 2020, New species of black corals (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Antipatharia) from deep- sea seamounts and ridges in the North Pacific, Zootaxa 4868 (4), pp. 543-559 : 544

Genus Antipathes Pallas, 1766

Type species. Antipathes dichotoma Pallas, 1766 (see Opresko 2003: 481–493).

Diagnosis. Corallum sparsely to densely branched. Branching bushy, bramble-like, broom-like or fan-shaped. End-branchlets of varying length; arranged irregularly, or bilaterally. Spines triangular or cone-shaped in lateral view; smooth or covered, to varying degrees, with small papillae; apex of spines simple or with one or more lobes or bifurcations. Polyps from less than 1 to 3 mm in transverse diameter.

Remarks. The genus contains a large number of nominal species. DNA studies ( Brugler et al. 2013; Bo et al. 2019) suggest that it might be subdivided on the basis of whether the spines are smooth-surfaced or have distinct papillae and whether they are simple, forked or multiply lobbed at the apex. Species are usually differentiated by colony morphology, as well as size, shape, and surface ornamentation of the skeletal spines.

Distribution. The genus is known primarily from tropical and subtropical waters in all oceans; usually at depths less than 200 m. However, some species may occur much deeper.