Kingdom Animalia Class Anthozoa Order Scleractinia | Phylum Cnidaria Subclass Hexacorallia Rank Family | |
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Similar Echinophyllia, Mycedium, Mussidae, Merulinidae, Echinopora | ||
Pectiniidae is a family of stony corals, commonly known as chalice corals. Members of the family are mostly colonial but one species, Echinomorpha nishihirai, is solitary. The name is probably related to the comb-like appearance of the walls of the corallites, which are tall, thin and striated. Pectiniids are endemic to the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
Pectiniids have a number of different forms but are basically laminar. The polyps are large and brightly coloured and resemble those of members of the Mussidae family. They are only extended at night. The tentacles are translucent, long and thin and most species also have sweeper tentacles armed with cnidocytes. These corals contain symbiotic micro-algae called zooxanthellae. Pectiniids are sought after for the reef aquarium trade.
Genera
The World Register of Marine Species includes the following genera in the family:
Echinomorpha nishihirai
Echinophyllia aspera (Ellis & Solander, 1788)
Echinophyllia costata (Fenner & Veron, 2002)
Echinophyllia echinata (Saville-Kent, 1871)
Echinophyllia echinoporoides (Veron & Pichon, 1979)
Echinophyllia maxima (Moll & Best, 1984)
Echinophyllia orpheensis (Veron & Pichon, 1980)
Echinophyllia patula (Hodgson & Ross, 1981)
Echinophyllia pectinata (Veron, 2002)
Echinophyllia tarae (Benzoni, 2013)
Echinophyllia taylorae (Veron, 2002)
Echinophyllia tosaensis (Yabe & Eguchi, 1935)
Mycedium elephantotus (Pallas, 1766)
Mycedium robokaki (Moll & Best, 1984)
Mycedium spina (Ditlev, 2003)
Mycedium steeni (Veron, 2002)
Mycedium tuediae (Dana, 1846)
Mycedium umbra (Veron, 2002)
Oxypora aspera (Ellis & Solander)
Oxypora convoluta (Veron, 2002)
Oxypora crassispinosa (Nemenzo, 1980)
Oxypora egyptensis (Veron, 2002)
Oxypora glabra (Nemenzo, 1959)
Oxypora lacera (Verrill, 1864)