Ceriantipatharia

Subclass Ceriantipatharia Black corals and tube anemones. Order Antipatharia Black coral. Large bushy colonies with thorny, hornlike axial skeleton formed by small polyps with 6 simple tentacles and 1 siphonoglyph. Mostly tropical and subtropical. Order Ceriantharia Tube

…is the rationale for subclass Ceriantipatharia. Morphology of antipatharians is, however, in some ways, nearer that of alcyonarians than of zoantharians, and alternative schemes place Antipatharia in subclass Alcyonaria. Ceriantharia, too, sits uncomfortably in Zoantharia, although it bears no special relationship to the Alcyonaria. It is generally viewed as a…