|
|
Family: Aglaopheniidae
|
Polyp: Colonies erect, large, tree-like. Hydrorhizacreeping. Hydrocaulusbranched, polysiphonic.Hydrocladia alternate, polysiphonicat base. Hydrothecaewith completely adnate adcaulinewall, with four pairs of lateral cusps and a median, abcaulinecusp; with adcaulineintrathecal septum. Lateral nematothecaereaching hydrothecalrim. Mesial inferior nematothecaadnate to abcaulinewall of hydrothecafor most of its length and extending well beyond the hydrothecalrim. Reproduction: Gonophores unknown. Material from Bocas del Toro was not fertile. Ecology and distribution: Tropical and subtropical western Atlantic, including the Gulf of Mexico , Caribbean Sea and Brazilian coasts. In Bocas del Toro collected from Swans Cay. Remarks: The species Macrorhynchiagrandis(Clarke, 1879), M. allmani(Nutting,1900),M. ramosa(Fewkes,1881),M. racemifera(Allman, 1883),M. clarkei(Nutting, 1900), M. mercatoris(Leloup, 1937),and M.longiramosa(Fraser, 1945) form a group of mostly tropical, western Atlantic taxa with badly defined boundaries and large morphological variation |