Higher Classification: > Kingdom Animalia > Subkingdom Eumetazoa > Phylum Cnidaria > Subphylum Anthozoa > Class Octocorallia > Order Malacalcyonacea > Family Nephtheidae

Litophyton Forskål, 1775

Rank: Genus
Taxon Status: accepted

Relationships towards this taxon

Genus group names

*Nephtya*		orthographic variant
*Nephthea*	Audouin, 1828	synonym

Children

Nephtya robusta

Vernaculars (+) (-)

Japanese: ヤナギトサカ属

Literature

original description	Forskål P. (1775). Descriptiones Animalium, Avium, Amphibiorum, Piscium, Insectorum, Vermium; quae in Itinere Orientali Observavit Petrus Forskål. Post Mortem Auctoris editit Carsten Niebuhr. Adjuncta est materia Medica Kahirina. Mölleri, Hafniae, 19 + xxxiv + 164 pp.
basis of record	Williams, G.C. (1992). Biogeography of the octocorallian coelenterate fauna of southern Africa. Biol. J. Linn. Soc. 46: 351-401.
additional source	Fabricius, K.; Alderslade, P. (2001). Soft Corals and Sea Fans: A Comprehensive Guide to the Shallow-water Genera of the Central-West Pacific, the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea. Australian Institute of Marine Science. Townsville. pp. 264.
additional source	Benayahu, Y.; Shlagman, A.; Schleyer, M. H. (2003). Corals of the south-west Indian Ocean: VI. The Alcyonacea (Octocorallia) of Mozambique, with a discussion on soft coral distribution on south equatorial East African reefs. Zoologische Verhandelingen, 345, 49-57
additional source	Williams, G. C. (1993). Coral Reef Octocorals: An Illustrated Guide to the Soft Corals, Sea Fans and Sea Pens Inhabiting the Coral Reefs of Northern Natal. Durban Natural Science Museum. Durban., pp. 63.
additional source	Williams, G. C. (1989). A review of recent research on the sublittoral coral reefs of northern Natal with a provisional assessment of findings regarding the distribution of octocorals on Two-Mile Reef, Sodwana Bay. South African Journal of Science, 85, 140-141
taxonomy source	van Ofwegen, L.P. (2016). The genus Litophyton Forskål, 1775 (Octocorallia, Alcyonacea, Nephtheidae) in the Red Sea and the western Indian Ocean. ZooKeys. 567: 1-128.

Genbank

Citation

McFadden, C.S.; Cordeiro, R.; Samimi-Namin, K.; Williams, G.; van Ofwegen, L. (2025). World List of Octocorallia. Litophyton Forskål, 1775. Via: Costello, M.J.; Bouchet, P.; Boxshall, G.; Arvantidis, C.; Appeltans, W. (2011) European Register of Marine Species, Accessed through PESI at http://www.eu-nomen.eu/portal/taxon.php?GUID=urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:204523