Evolution of ahermatypic scleractinian corals from marine caves.

在主要来自琉球群岛的海相洞穴中发现了6属7种。其中，提出1个新属和4个新种，即Madracis sp.nov。密尔纳-爱德华兹和海姆，多叶藻sp.nov。(1)副叶青树；与迄今为止在琉球群岛报道的非典型硬核动物不同，它们的组合具有特征性。某些种类珊瑚的形态也很奇特，反映了海洋洞穴的隐秘环境。例如，Madracis sp.nov.的珊瑚是巨大而非常小的，而它们在开阔的海洋环境中通常是分枝状的。在硬核珊瑚的分类中，在属级上将孤立珊瑚与群体珊瑚区分开来。然而，具有相同花萼的单生珊瑚和群生珊瑚同时存在。

Seven species belonging to six genera have been found in the marine caves mainly from the Ryukyu Islands. Among them, one new genus and four new species are propsed, viz. Madracis sp.nov., Desmophyllum cristagalli Milne-Edwards and Haime, Polycyathus sp.nov., Paracyathus pruinosus Alcock, Dendrophyllia sp.nov., Dendrophyllia elegans Horst and Pectiniidae gen.et sp.nov.The assemblages are characteristic, being different from those of ahermatypic scleractinians hitherto reported from the Ryukyu Islands. Morphology of the coralla in some species is also peculiar, reflecting the cryptic environments of the marine caves. For example, the coralla of Madracis sp.nov.are massive and very small, while they are generally ramose in open marine environments. In the classification of scleractinian corals, solitary corals have been discriminated from colonial ones in generic level. However, solitary and colonial coralla, both of which possess same calices coexist in the genus Desmophyllum.