Corallimorpharia is an order of marine

cnidaria Cnidaria () is a phylum under kingdom Animalia containing over 11,000 species of aquatic animals found both in freshwater and marine environments, predominantly the latter. Their distinguishing feature is cnidocytes, specialized cells that ...

ns closely related to stony or reef building corals (

Scleractinia Scleractinia, also called stony corals or hard corals, are marine animals in the phylum Cnidaria that build themselves a hard skeleton. The individual animals are known as polyps and have a cylindrical body crowned by an oral disc in which a ...

). They occur in both temperate and tropical climates, although they are mostly

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

. Temperate forms tend to be very robust, with wide and long columns, whereas tropical forms tend to have very short columns with a wide oral disc and very short tentacles. The tentacles are usually arranged in rows radiating from the mouth. Many species occur together in large groups, although there are recorded instances of individuals. In many respects, they resemble the stony corals, except for the absence of a stony skeleton. Morphological and molecular evidence suggests that they are very closely related to stony corals. Corallimorpharians occur in a wide range of marine habitats, and can be associated with phase shifts in coral reef ecosystems that result in a change from a hard-coral dominated reef to a soft-coral dominated one. They have been observed to overgrow reefs in a carpet formation. Many species are also common invertebrates kept in marine aquaria.

Taxonomy

According to

World Register of Marine Species The World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) is a taxonomic database that aims to provide an authoritative and comprehensive list of names of marine organisms. Content The content of the registry is edited and maintained by scientific specialis ...

, this order contains 46 species within 11 genera: * Family

Corallimorphidae Corallimorphidae is a family of corallimorphs. It includes three genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological class ...

Hertwig, 1882 ** Genus '' Corallimorphus'' Moseley, 1877 -- 6 species ** Genus ''

Corynactis ''Corynactis'' is a genus of colonial anthozoans similar in appearance to sea anemones and in body format to scleractinian stony corals. These animals are cnidarians in the family Corallimorphidae. Large unidentified polyps of this genus feed on ...

'' Allman, 1846 -- 14 species ** Genus '' Paracorynactis'' Ocaña, den Hartog, Brito & Bos, 2010 -- 1 species * Family

Discosomidae Discosomidae is a family of marine cnidarians closely related to the true sea anemones ( Actiniaria). It contains five genera: * '' Amplexidiscus'' * ''Discosoma '' Discosoma nummiforme'' ''Discosoma'' is a genus of cnidarians in the order Co ...

Verrill, 1869 ** Genus '' Amplexidiscus'' Dunn & Hamner, 1980 -- 1 species ** Genus ''

Discosoma '' Discosoma nummiforme'' ''Discosoma'' is a genus of cnidarians in the order Corallimorpharia. Common names for the genus include mushroom anemone, disc anemone and elephant ear mushroom.Sprung, JAquarium Invertebrates: Mushrooms, Elephants Ears ...

'' Rüppell & Leuckart, 1828 -- 11 species ** Genus '' Metarhodactis'' Carlgren, 1943 -- 1 species ** Genus '' Platyzoanthus'' Saville-Kent, 1893 -- 1 species ** Genus '' Rhodactis'' Milne Edwards & Haime, 1851 -- 7 species * Family Ricordeidae Watzl, 1922 ** Genus '' Ricordea'' Duchassaing de Fonbressin & Michelotti, 1860 -- 2 species * Family

Sideractinidae Sideractinidae is a family of corals belonging to the order Corallimorpharia Corallimorpharia is an order of marine cnidarians closely related to stony or reef building corals (Scleractinia). They occur in both temperate and tropical climates, ...

Danielssen, 1890 ** Genus '' Nectactis'' Gravier, 1918 -- 1 species ** Genus '' Sideractis'' Danielssen, 1890 -- 1 species Image:Actinodiscus macro.JPG, ''

Actinodiscus '' Discosoma nummiforme'' ''Discosoma'' is a genus of cnidarians in the order Corallimorpharia. Common names for the genus include mushroom anemone, disc anemone and elephant ear mushroom.Sprung, JAquarium Invertebrates: Mushrooms, Elephants Ears ...

sp.'' Image:Sanc1637 - Flickr - NOAA Photo Library.jpg, ''

Corynactis californica ''Corynactis californica'' is a brightly colored colonial anthozoan corallimorph. Unlike the Atlantic true sea anemone, '' Actinia fragacea'', that bears the same common name, strawberry anemone, this species is a member of the order Corallimor ...

'' Image:Pseudocorynactis, Waikiki Aquarium.JPG, ''

Pseudocorynactis ''Corynactis'' is a genus of colonial anthozoans similar in appearance to sea anemones and in body format to scleractinian stony corals. These animals are cnidarians in the family Corallimorphidae. Large unidentified polyps of this genus feed on ...

sp.'' Image:Amplexidiscus fenestrafer Maldives.JPG, '' Amplexidiscus fenestrafer'' Image:Discosoma.jpg, ''

sp.'' Image:Rhodactis rhodostoma (de nuit).jpg, '' Rhodactis rhodostoma'' Image:Ricordea Yuma Mushroom.jpg, ''

Ricordea yuma ''Ricordea yuma'' is a species of coral in the family Ricordeidae, order Corallimorpharia; This order of corals do not produce the distinctive calcification of the closely related Scleractinian, or reef building corals. ''Ricordea yuma'' are foun ...

References

UFL Zoology - Cnidaria
*

External links

Hexacorallia Cnidarian orders {{Hexacorallia-stub