Pacifigorgia Bayer, 1951

Breedy, Odalisca & Guzman, Hector M., 2003, Octocorals from Costa Rica: The genus Pacifigorgia (Coelenterata: Octocorallia: Gorgoniidae), Zootaxa 281 (1), pp. 1-60 : 6

Pacifigorgia Bayer, 1951

Synonymy. See Breedy and Guzman 2002: 791.

Diagnosis. Adapted from Bayer (1951: 94): Colony flabellate branched in one or several perpendicular planes. Branches regularly anastomosed to form a network of variable sized mesh. Polyps retractile within low calyces or flush with the surface of the coenenchyme. Coenenchymal sclerites basically of 4 kinds: long spindles with acute ends and several whorls of warts; blunt spindles, long or short with several whorls of warts; and girdled capstans with different levels of complexity. Anthocodial sclerites are flattened rods with smooth, scalloped, serrated or lobed margins.

Distribution. From Bayer (1951): Eastern Pacific, from southern California to Chile and the Galápagos Islands; Atlantic coast from Trinidad to Brazil.