Aphanipathidae Opresko, 2004

Wagner, Daniel & Shuler, Andrew, 2017, The black coral fauna (Cnidaria: Antipatharia) of Bermuda with new records, Zootaxa 4344 (2), pp. 367-379 : 373

Family Aphanipathidae Opresko, 2004

The family Aphanipathidae is characterized by polyps with six primary and four secondary mesenteries, that are 0.5–1.3 mm in transverse diameter, and have tentacles that are all nearly of the same length when fully expanded ( Bo, 2008; France et al., 2007; Opresko & Sanchez, 2005; Opresko, 2004). Furthermore, the skeletal spines of the Aphanipathidae often penetrate through the soft tissues of polyps, have distinct tubercles, and are not usually bifurcated towards their apex ( Bo, 2008; France et al., 2007; Opresko & Sanchez, 2005; Opresko, 2004). The family Aphanipathidae has not been previously reported from Bermuda ( Locke et al., 2013), and is therefore documented here from Bermuda for the first time.