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Family: Kirchenpaueriidae
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Polyp: Colonies erect. Hydrorhiza creeping stolons. Hydrocaulus weakly polysiphonic at base, occasionally branched, composed of internodes separated by transverse nodes, each internode bearing one lateral apophysis, alternately directed right or left; internode above the insertion of the apophysis with one two-chambered nematothecae. Hydrocladia alternate, formed by a regular succession of thecate and athecate internodes separated by transverse nodes. Thecate internodes each with one cup-shaped hydrotheca and two median, two chambered nematothecae: one inferior and one superior. Reproduction: Gonophores as fixed sporosacs. Gonothecae more or less cylindrical, truncate at the apex, with circular lid, with several transverse ribs. Ecology and Distribution: Circumglobal in shallow tropical and warm-temperate waters . In Bocas del Toro collected from the docks and the weather station of the Bocas del Toro Research Station (Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute), Punta Hospital, and near Bocatorito Bay. Similar taxa: Plumularia spp |