Alcyoniina | |
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Sarcophyton in Flynn Reef, part of the Great Barrier Reef, near Cairns, Queensland, Australia. | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Cnidaria |
Subphylum: | Anthozoa |
Class: | Octocorallia |
Order: | Alcyonacea |
Suborder: | Alcyoniina Lamouroux, 1816 |
The suborder Alcyoniina (in some systems classified as the order Alcyonacea in the narrowest sense) is a former octocoralian taxon belonging to the broadly conceived order Alcyonacea. [1] [2] [3] [4]
Since a 2022 revision, almost all the families of former Alcyoniina belong to the order Malacalcyonacea, within which, however, they do not form a monophyletic taxon. Only the problematic (see below) Alcyoniinan family Parasphaerascleridae now belongs to the order Scleralcyonacea. [4]
Members of Alcyoniina are found mainly in the Pacific and Indian oceans.[ citation needed ]
The World Register of Marine Species listed the following families in the suborder Alcyoniina in October 2022: [5]
The family Parasphaerascleridae was sometimes also included in the suborder. [4] [1] Alternatively, it was classified as incertae sedis within Alcyonacea. [6]