Myriopathidae Opresko, 2001

Wagner, Daniel & Shuler, Andrew, 2017, The black coral fauna (Cnidaria: Antipatharia) of Bermuda with new records, Zootaxa 4344 (2), pp. 367-379 : 375

Family Myriopathidae Opresko, 2001

The family Myriopathidae is characterized by polyps with six primary and four secondary mesenteries that are 0.5– 1.0 mm in transverse diameter, and possess short tentacles with rounded tips. The skeletal spines of the Myriopathidae are usually needle-shaped on smaller branches, and frequently forked or antler-like on larger branches ( Bo, 2008; France et al., 2007; Opresko & Sanchez, 2005; Opresko, 2001;) Two genera, Cupressopathe s and Tanacetipathes , have previously been reported from Bermuda ( Locke et al., 2013). However, Cupressopathe s was incorrectly reported from Bermuda due to an incorrect synonymization between Antipathes gracilis , which occurs throughout the Western Atlantic ( Opresko, 2009; Opresko & Sanchez, 2005; Warner, 2005; Padilla & Lara, 2003; Cairns et al., 1993; Warner, 1981), and Cupressopathes gracilis , which is only known from the Indo-Pacific (Opresko, 2001). Tanacetipathes is the only genus within the family Myriopathidae that is currently known from Bermuda, and was documented as part of this study as well ( Table 1).