Filifera Explained

Filifera is a suborder of hydrozoans in the order Anthoathecata. They are found in marine, brackish and freshwater habitats.

Characteristics

Members of this suborder are characterised by the filiform tentacles of the polyps which do not terminate in knobs. The rose corals, family Stylasteridae, secrete calcium carbonate exoskeletons around a network of stolons.^[1]

Families

According to the World Register of Marine Species, the following families are found in this suborder :^[2]

• Australomedusidae Russell, 1971
• Axoporidae Boschma, 1951 †
• Balellidae Stechow, 1922
• Bougainvilliidae Lütken, 1850
• Bythotiaridae Maas, 1905
• Clathrozoellidae Peña Cantero, Vervoort & Watson, 2003
• Cordylophoridae von Lendenfeld, 1885
• Cytaeididae L. Agassiz, 1862
• Eucodoniidae Schuchert, 1996
• Eudendriidae L. Agassiz, 1862
• Heterotentaculidae Schuchert, 2010
• Hydractiniidae L. Agassiz, 1862
• Jeanbouilloniidae Pagès, Flood & Youngbluth, 2006
• Magapiidae Schuchert & Bouillon, 2009
• Niobiidae Petersen, 1979
• Oceaniidae Eschscholtz, 1829
• Pandeidae Haeckel, 1879
• Proboscidactylidae Hand & Hendrickson, 1950
• Protiaridae Haeckel, 1879
• Ptilocodiidae Coward, 1909
• Rathkeidae Russell, 1953
• Rhysiidae (Hickson & Gravely, 1907)
• Similiclavidae Calder, Choong & McDaniel, 2015
• Stylasteridae Gray, 1847
• Trichydridae Hincks, 1868
• Tubiclavoididae Moura, Cunha & Schuchert, 2007
• Filifera incertae sedis

Notes and References

1. Book: Invertebrate Zoology, 7th edition . Ruppert . Edward E. . Fox . Richard, S. . Barnes . Robert D. . 2004 . Cengage Learning . 978-81-315-0104-7 . 167 .
2. Schuchert, Peter . 2015 . Filifera . 16352 . 2015-06-08 .