Generic Revision and Phylogenetic Analysis of the Primnoidae (Cnidaria: Octocorallia)

摘要

Primnoidae consists of 36 genera, 7 subgenera, and 233 valid species, making it the fourth largest octocorallian family. Species occur in all ocean basins, especially the Antarctic, at depths of 85850 m, making primnoids the deepest-living gorgonacean octocorals. Primnoids are common and characteristic of seamounts and deepwater coral banks, often providing habitat for other marine life and serving as proxies for isotopic analyses to determine paleotemperatures. Diagnoses of the primnoid genera and subgenera are based primarily on their type species, and specimens are illustrated by means of scanning electron microscopy, often using stereo images to allow better appreciation of the topology and interconnection of the calycular sclerites. A history of the higher classification of the family is given. Each genus is briefl y discussed, and also included are a synonymy of pertinent references, a summary of the geographic and bathymetric ranges, and the deposition of the type specimens of the type species.