Corallimorpharia

Corallimorpharia
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Cnidaria
Class:	Hexacorallia
Order:	Corallimorpharia; Stephenson, 1937
Families
	Corallimorphidae; Discosomidae; Ricordeidae; Sideractinidae;
Synonyms
	Coralliomorpharia;

Corallimorpharia is an order of marine cnidarians closely related to stony or reef building corals (Scleractinia). They are mostly tropical, with a narrow column topped with a wide oral disc. The tentacles are usually short or very short, arranged in rows radiating from the mouth. Many species occur together in large groups. In many respects, they resemble the stony corals, except for the absence of a stony skeleton.

Corallimorpharians occur in a wide range of marine habitats, and are 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. Many species are also common invertebrates kept in marine aquaria.

Taxonomy

According to World Register of Marine Species, this order contains 46 species within 11 genera:

Family Corallimorphidae Hertwig, 1882
- Genus Corallimorphus Moseley, 1877 -- 6 species
- Genus Corynactis Allman, 1846 -- 14 species
- Genus Paracorynactis Ocaña, den Hartog, Brito & Bos, 2010 -- 1 species
Family Discosomidae Verrill, 1869
- Genus Amplexidiscus Dunn & Hamner, 1980 -- 1 species
- Genus Discosoma 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 Danielssen, 1890
- Genus Nectactis Gravier, 1918 -- 1 species
- Genus Sideractis Danielssen, 1890 -- 1 species