Coryphylliidae Beauvais, 1981

Roniewicz, Ewa, 2011, Early Norian (Triassic) corals from the Northern Calcareous Alps, Austria, and the intra-Norian faunal turnover, Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 56 (2), pp. 401-428 : 408-409

Family Coryphylliidae Beauvais, 1981 emended by Roniewicz and Stanley, 2009

Supplementary to the original diagnosis.—Septal stereome composed of thin fibre bundles with tips manifested on the septal surface as sharp and dense granules, thinner and much denser than lateral granules of the Margarophylliidae and Reimaniphylliidae ; wall of a complex septal−epithecal structure.

Remarks on the family Coryphylliidae .—In the family Coryphylliidae , the adaptive radiation resulted in development of a number of genera with a solitary corallum ( Coryphyllia , Noriphyllia , Cuifia , Coryphyllina ). The family is based on their simple septal microstructure, i.e., thin, straight midseptal zone associated with thick lateral stereome; the differences in relations between septa and epithecal wall appear taxonomically significant ( Roniewicz and Stanley 2009: fig. 2a–g, comparison of the wall structure). The fourth solitary coral, Coryphyllina Roniewicz, 1996 , has a position aside the above enumerated core taxa, due to partitioning of the midseptal zone which resulted in decomposing the septal blade at the internal septal border into projections producing a papillar columella ( Roniewicz 1996: pl. 5: 1d). Speciation in this group of genera produced one to three species per genus. The most spectacular species are known for their large and tall, columnar coralla which attained diameters of up to 100 mm and over 100 mm in height (e.g., Rhaetian Cuifia gigantella Melnikova, 1975 , Norian Cuifia marmorea ( Frech, 1890) .

Early Jurassic genus Axotrochus Beauvais, 1986 was included to the family Coryphylliidae , but a solid, lense−like columella and a very thick wall of a non−precised microstructure, preclude this assignement.

Genera included.—Solitary Coryphyllia Cuif, 1975 , Cuifia Melnikova, 1975 , Coryphyllina Roniewicz, 1996 , Noriphyllia Roniewicz and Stanley, 2009 ; phaceloid Paracuifia Melnikova, 2001 ; astraeoid Palaeastraea Kühn, 1936 ; kuhnastreoid Kuhnastraea Cuif, 1976 ; thamnasterioid Margarogyra gen. nov. and Alakiria Cuif, 1976 .