Ordo Alcyonacea

Lamouroux, 1816

Description
Colonies forming encrusting sheets or erect fleshy masses, often branching. Anthosteles embedded in a more or less extensive coenenchyme which contains numerous sclerites. Primary polyps long, extending from base to apex of colony; secondary polyps bud from primaries or arise independently from the solenia.

Only one family occurs in British waters:

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