Echinoptilidae is a

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

of sea pens, a member of the subclass

Octocorallia Octocorallia, along with Hexacorallia, is one of the two extant classes of Anthozoa. It comprises over 3,000 species of marine and brackish animals consisting of colonial polyps with 8-fold symmetry, commonly referred informally as "soft cora ...

in the

phylum In biology, a phylum (; : phyla) is a level of classification, or taxonomic rank, that is below Kingdom (biology), kingdom and above Class (biology), class. Traditionally, in botany the term division (taxonomy), division has been used instead ...

Cnidaria Cnidaria ( ) is a phylum under kingdom Animalia containing over 11,000 species of aquatic invertebrates found both in fresh water, freshwater and marine environments (predominantly the latter), including jellyfish, hydroid (zoology), hydroids, ...

Characteristics

Colonies are cylindrical without axis, and the

rachis In biology, a rachis (from the [], "backbone, spine") is a main axis or "shaft". In zoology and microbiology In vertebrates, ''rachis'' can refer to the series of articulated vertebrae, which encase the spinal cord. In this case the ''rachi ...

is generally longer than the peduncle. The colony may be radially or bilaterally symmetrical. Autozooids have non-retractile, bifurcated calyces with many sclerites.The Pennatulacea of Southern Africa (Coelentrata, Anthozoa), Annals of the South African Museum Volume 99 May 1990 part 4, Cape Town.

Distribution

Indo-West Pacific to south western Africa in shallow sublittoral to over 800m depth.

Genera

The World Register of Marine Species list the following

genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...

:van Ofwegen, L. (2012). Echinoptilidae. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=196247 on 2013-04-19 *Genus '' Actinoptilum'' Kükenthal, 1911 *Genus '' Echinoptilum'' Hubrecht, 1885

References

Pennatulacea Cnidarian families {{Octocorallia-stub