Genus Truncatoflabellum

Cairns, 1989

Truncatoflabellum veroni (1)

Type species: Euphyllia spheniscus Dana, 1846

Total number of species estimated: 31 (at least 7 more species known as fossils).

Characteristics: Corallum azooxanthellate, solitary, and highly compressed. Asexual reproduction most common: free-living distal buds (anthocyathi) detach by the process of transverse division from the attached parent (anthocaulus). Coralla relatively small, the largest species having a greater calicular diameter of 3 cm. Theca smooth (epithecate) but often encrusted; thecal edges usually bear 1-5 pairs of downward projecting spines. Inner and upper septal edges smooth. No columella. Colour???

Ecology: Poorly known.

Range: Oligocene to Recent: extant species occurring mostly in Indo-Pacific at depths of 0-1450 m, although one species is known from the southeastern Atlantic and another from the Subantarctic. At least 12 species occur in Indonesian waters (Cairns and Zibrowius, 1997).

Additional remarks: The detached, free-living anthocyathi are the most commonly collected form of this genus. They are easily distinguished by having an elliptical scar of a characteristic diameter on their base, a remnant of their previous detachment from their parent anthocaulus.

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