Zoantharia Rafinesque, 1815

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 : 3

Order Zoantharia Rafinesque, 1815

Zoanthia Rafinesque, 1815: 155.

Zoantharia Gray, 1832: 94.

Zoanthiniaria van Beneden, 1897: 150.

Zoanthidea Bourne, 1900: 58.

Diagnosis.

Anthozoans with body walls usually incrusted with sand and/or other detritus (except for the family Zoanthidae ), tentacles always arranged in two rows or cycles. Majority of species are colonial.

Remarks.

Herein, we choose to use the name Zoantharia Rafinesque, 1815. Although Zoantharia Rafinesque, 1815, has identical spelling with the supraordinal name Zoantharia de Blainville, 1830, the latter name has fallen from common use- Hexacorallia Haeckel, 1896, being favoured. Furthermore, using the name Zoanthidea Bourne, 1900, can potentially cause confusion when used in the non-technical form “zoanthids” to denote members of the order, as it would be identical with the term “zoanthids” to denote members of the family Zoanthidae Rafinesque, 1815.