Genus Menella

Gray, 1870

Menella (2)

Type species: Menella indica Gray, 1870

Total number of species estimated: 10

Description: Colonies forming sparsely branched fans or bushes with long, cylindrical upright branches. Polyps arranged all around the branches. Colour of colonies red, yellow, purple. Surface of coenenchyme with sclerites with vertically placed leaves. Mostly, these leaves are flat and thin. Interior with spindles and irregular sclerites. Zooxanthellae absent.

Habitat: Reef slope.

Range: Tropical Indo-Pacific

Remarks: Formerly Menella species were classified in Echinogorgia and Plexauroides.

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