Renillidae

Devictor, Susan T. & Morton, Steve L., 2010, Identification guide to the shallow water (0 - 200 m) octocorals of the South Atlantic Bight 2599, Zootaxa 2599 (1), pp. 1-62 : 23

Family Renillidae

Pennatulacea with heart-shaped rachis containing all siphonozooids and autozooids on the dorsal surface. The stalk does not contain an axis nor does it support polyps.

This family is represented by one species in the SAB, Renilla reniformis . Deichmann (1936) divided this taxon into two forms, americana and typica based on saturation of colony and sclerite color. Colonies found on the coast of the Carolinas and north Florida are pale purple (forma typica) whereas those off the coast of South America are darker and more violet (forma americana). Bayer (1961) disputed this division, finding both pale and dark colonies in the Antilles. Both forms have been recorded in the SAB.