Parastenella Versluys, 1906

Horvath, Elizabeth Anne, 2019, A review of gorgonian coral species (Cnidaria, Octocorallia, Alcyonacea) held in the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History research collection: focus on species from Scleraxonia, Holaxonia, Calcaxonia - Part III: Suborder Holaxonia continued, and suborder Calcaxonia, ZooKeys 860, pp. 183-306 : 243

Genus Parastenella Versluys, 1906

non Stenella Gray, 1866: 213 [a cetacean].

Stenella Gray, 1870: 48. Studer 1878 [1879]: 643; 1887: 50. Wright and Studer 1889: 56 [pars; S. doederleini , S. spinosa ]. Kinoshita 1908a: 27, 28. Kükenthal 1915b: 151, 152 [pars]; 1919: 443-445 [pars; key to species]; 1924: 303 [pars; key to species]. Molander 1929: [pars]. Aurivillius, 1931: 289, 290 [pars].

Stenella (Parastenella) Versluys, 1906: 39, 45.

Candidella (Parastenella) Bayer, 1956: F222.

Parastenella Bayer, 1961: 295 [ill. key to genus]; 1981: 936 [key to genus]. Bayer and Stefani 1988: 454 [key to genus]. Cairns 2007a: 245-247; 2007b: 518. Table 2 [generic revision, tabular key to species]. Cairns and Bayer 2009: 31, 45, 46. Cairns 2010: 434 [key to species]; 2011: 23; 2016: 94-96

Type species.

Stenella doederleini Wright & Studer, 1889; subsequent designation Bayer 1956 a.

Diagnosis.

Colonies primarily branched, planar dichotomous; occasionally slightly bushy. Polyps arranged in either whorls of up to four, in pairs, or isolated, generally standing perpendicular to branch. Operculum well developed, opercular scales decidedly keeled on inner surface. Marginal scales eight, in alternate position with respect to opercular scales. All polyps, generally, completely covered with five to eight longitudinal rows of body wall scales; outer surfaces covered with small granules. Coenenchymal scales arranged in one layer. Tentacular rods sometimes present.

Remarks.

Genus holds accepted status, shown in WoRMS Database (Cordeiro et al. 2019).