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Caryophyllioidea Dana 1846

Stephen D. Cairns
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Classification from Wells (1956), as modified by Stolarski (1996). The family marked with a cross ( ) occurs only in the fossil record, whereas the other 3 families contain both fossil and Recent taxa.
Containing group: Caryophylliina

Introduction

Representatives of this family occur from the early Jurassic (about 180 million years ago) to the Recent, and are widespread in the world oceans, commonly being found as fossils on all continents, including Antarctica (Filkorn, 1994). One hundred sixteen genera have been described, most of which (73 genera and 347 species) occur in the Recent (Cairns et al., 1999). Most are azooxanthellate (86% of the genera) and solitary in growth form (63% of the genera). Although colonies may reach a meter or more in size, most caryophyllioideans are small, rarely greater than 20-30 mm in size. Although several genera in this superfamily are colonial reef builders, most are inconspicuous, occurring cryptically in shallow-water environments or as benthos on the lower shelf and upper slope (0-2165 m).

Characteristics

The superfamily is characterized by having coralla with a septothecal (constructed of thickening of septa) or parathecal (constructed of dissepiments) trabecular wall in the adult stage. Nontrabecular epitheca (rare) or textura (more common) may overlay the original wall, and granulated costae are usually present (Stolarski, 1995).

Discussion of Phylogenetic Relationships

No phylogenetic analysis has been done on the suprageneric taxa of the Caryophyllioidea; however, Stolarski (1995, 1996), Romano and Palumbi (1996), and Romano and Cairns (2000) are currently investigating and reassessing the higher level relationships in this superfamily by using characteristics of the corallum microstructure and DNA sequences, respectively.

References

Cairns S. D., B. W. Hoeksema, and J. van der Land. 1999. Appendix: List of Extant Stony Corals. Attol Research Bulletin, 459:13-46.

Filkorn, H. F. 1994. Fossil scleractinian corals from the James Ross Basin, Antarctica. Antarctic Research Series, 65: 96 pp.

Romano, S. L. and S. D. Cairns. 2000. Molecular Phylogenetic Hypotheses from the Evolution of Scleractinian Corals. Bulletin of Marine Science.

Romano, S. L. and S. R. Palumbi. 1996. Evolution of scleractinian corals inferred from molecular systematics. Science, 271: 640-642.

Stolarski, J. 1995. Ontogenetic development of the thecal structures in caryophylliine scleractinian corals. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, 40: 19-44.

Stolarski, J. 1996. Gardineria -- a scleractinian living fossil. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, 41: 339-367.

Stolarski, J. 2000. Origin and phylogeny of Guyniidae (Scleractinia) in the light of microstructural data. Lethaia, 33: 13-38.

Wells, J. W. 1956. Scleractinia. Pp. F328-F444 In: Moore, R. C. (editor) Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology, Part F: Coelenterata. University of Kansas Press, Lawrence.

Title Illustrations
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Scientific Name Deltocyathus calcar
Location off St. Vincent, Lesser Antilles (depth 231 m)
Specimen Condition Dead Specimen
Body Part skeleton
View Calicular view
Size Diameter of corallum 11 mm
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License - Version 3.0.
Copyright © 2002
Scientific Name Cyathotrochus pileus
Location the Philippines (depth 494 m)
Comments Note the deep intercostal grooves.
Specimen Condition Dead Specimen
Body Part skeleton
View Side view
Size Width of corallum 23 mm
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License - Version 3.0.
Copyright © 2002
About This Page
Creation of this page was supported by US National Science Foundation grants DEB95-21819 and DEB 99-78106 (in the program PEET - Partnerships to Enhance Expertise in Taxonomy) to Daphne G. Fautin, grant DEB99-78086 (in the program PEET) to Stephen D. Cairns, and grant OCE 00-03970 (in NOPP, the National Oceanographic Partnership Program) to D.G.F. and Robert W. Buddemeier.

Technical assistance was rendered by Adorian Ardelean.


Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C., USA

Correspondence regarding this page should be directed to Stephen D. Cairns at

Page: Tree of Life Caryophyllioidea Dana 1846. Authored by Stephen D. Cairns. The TEXT of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License - Version 3.0. Note that images and other media featured on this page are each governed by their own license, and they may or may not be available for reuse. Click on an image or a media link to access the media data window, which provides the relevant licensing information. For the general terms and conditions of ToL material reuse and redistribution, please see the Tree of Life Copyright Policies.

Citing this page:

Cairns, Stephen D. 2002. Caryophyllioidea Dana 1846. Version 28 October 2002. http://tolweb.org/Caryophyllioidea/19019/2002.10.28 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/

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