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

Alcyonium Linnaeus, 1758

Rank: Genus
Taxon Status: accepted

Relationships towards this taxon

Genus group names

*Alcyonidium*	auct.	synonym
*Parerythropodium*	Kükenthal, 1916	synonym
*Rhodophyton*	Gray, 1865	synonym

Children

Alcyonium acaule Marion, 1878
Alcyonium bocagei (Saville Kent, 1870)
Alcyonium coralloides (Pallas, 1766)
Alcyonium digitatum Linnaeus, 1758
Alcyonium ficus Pallas, 1766
Alcyonium glomeratum (Hassall, 1843)
Alcyonium hibernicum (Renouf, 1931)
Alcyonium norvegicum (Koren & Danielssen, 1883)
Alcyonium palmatum Pallas, 1766

Vernaculars (+) (-)

Japanese: ウミトサカ属

Literature

original description	Linnaeus, C. (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. [The system of nature through the three kingdoms of nature, according to classes, orders, genera, species, with characters, differences, synonyms, places.]. Impensis Direct. Laurentii Salvii. Holmiae [Stockholm]. 1(10) [iii], 824 p.
basis of record	van Ofwegen, L.; Grasshoff, M.; van der Land, J. (2001). Octocorallia (excl. Pennatulacea), in: Costello, M.J. et al. (Ed.) (2001). European register of marine species: a check-list of the marine species in Europe and a bibliography of guides to their identification. Collection Patrimoines Naturels, 50: pp. 104-105
additional source	McFadden, C. S. (1991). A comparative demographic analysis of clonal reproduction in a temperate soft coral. Ecology, 72(5): 1849-1866
additional source	Reinicke, G. B.; van Ofwegen, L. P. (1999). Soft corals (Alcyonacea: Octocorallia) from shallow water in the Chagos Archipelago: species assemblages and their distribution. Linnean Society Occasional Publications, 2, 67-85, plates 1-10
additional source	McFadden, C. S.; Hochberg, F. (2003). Biology and taxonomy of encrusting alcyoniid soft corals in the northeastern Pacific Ocean with descriptions of two new genera (Cnidaria, Anthozoa, Octocorallia). Invertebrate Biology. 122(2): 93-113.
additional source	Hwang, S. J.; Song, J. I. (2007). Reproductive biology and larval development of the temperate soft coral Dendronephthya gigantea (Alcyonacea: Nephtheidae). Marine Biology, 152, 273-284
additional source	Bayer, F.M. (1961). The shallow-water Octocorallia of the West Indian region. A manual for marine biologists. Studies on the Fauna of Curacao and Other Caribbean Islands. 12:1-373, pls. 1-23.
additional source	Grasshoff, M.; Alderslade, P. (1997). Gorgoniidae of Indo-Pacific reefs with descriptions of two new genera (Coelenterata: Octocorallia). Senckenbergiana Biologica. 77: 23–25.
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	McFadden, C.S.; van Ofwegen, L.P. (2013). Molecular phylogenetic evidence supports a new family of octocorals and a new genus of Alcyoniidae (Octocorallia, Alcyonacea). Zookeys. 346: 59-83.
additional source	Tixier-Durivault, A. (1951). Revision de la famille des Alcyoniidae. Le genre Sinularia May, 1898. Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique, Memoires. 2(40): 1-146.
additional source	Williams, G.C. (1992). The Alcyonacea of southern Africa. Stoloniferous octocorals and soft corals (Coelenterata, Anthozoa). Annals of the South African Museum. 100: 249-358.
additional source	Williams, G.C. (1986). A new species of the octocorallian genus Alcyonium (Anthozoa: Alcyonacea) from southern Africa, with a revised diagnosis of the genus. Journal of Natural History. 20: 53-63.
additional source	McFadden, C. S.; Aydin, K. Y. (1996). Spatial autocorrelation analysis of small-scale genetic structure in a clonal soft coral with limited larval dispersal. Marine Biology, 126, 215-224
additional source	McMurrich, J. P. (1893). Report on the Actiniæ collected by the United States Fish Commission Steamer Albatross during the winter of 1887-1888. Proceedings of the United States National Museum, 16(930): 119-216
additional source	Verseveldt, J. (1971). Octocorallia from North-Western Madagascar (Part II). Zoologische Verhandelingen. 1-73, plates 1-15.
additional source	Megina, C.; Conradi, M.; Piraino, S. (2003). Biodiversity, life cycles, and reproductive biology of deep-sea cnidarians. Berichte zur Polarforschung, 470, 108-112
additional source	McFadden, C. S.; Donahue, R.; Hadland, B. K.; Weston, R. (2001). A molecular phylogenetic analysis of reproductive trait evolution in the soft coral genus Alcyonium. Evolution, 55(1): 54-67
additional source	Verseveldt, J.; Bayer, F. M. (1988). Revision of the genera Bellonella, Eleutherobia, Nidalia and Nidaliopsis (Octocorallia, Alcyoniidae and Nidalliidae), with descriptions of two new genera. Zoologische Verhandelingen. 245:1-131.
additional source	Benayahu, Y.; Yosief, T.; Schleyer, M. H. (2002). Soft corals (Octocorallia, Alcyonacea) of the southern Red Sea. Israel Journal of Zoology, 48, 273-283
additional source	van Ofwegen, L.P.; Häussermann, V.; Försterra, G. (2006). A new genus of soft coral (Octocorallia: Alcyonacea: Clavulariidae) from Chile. Zootaxa. 1219, 47-57.
additional source	Tixier-Durivault, A. (1958). Revision de la famille des Alcyoniidae: les genres Sarcophytum et Lobophytum. Zoologische Verhandelingen Leiden. 36: 1-179.
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
additional source	McFadden, C.S.; van Ofwegen, L.P. (2017). Revisionary systematics of the endemic soft coral fauna (Octocorallia: Alcyonacea: Alcyoniina) of the Agulhas Bioregion, South Africa. Zootaxa. 4363(4): 451-488.
additional source	Bayer, F.M. & K.M. Muzik. (1976). A new solitary octocoral, Taiaroa tauhou gen. et sp. nov. (Coelenterata: Protoalcyonaria) from New Zealand. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand. 6(4): 499-515.
additional source	McFadden, C. S.; Hutchinson, M. B. (2004). Molecular evidence for the hybrid origin of species in the soft coral genus Alcyonium (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Octocorallia). Molecular Ecology, 13, 1495-1505
additional source	Williams, G. C. (1997). Preliminary assessment of the phylogeny of Pennatulacea (Anthozoa: Octocorallia), with a reevaluation of Ediacaran frond-like fossils, and a synopsis of the history of evolutionary thought regarding the sea pens. Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Coelenterate Biology, 497-509
additional source	Bastidas, C.; Fabricius, K.; Willis, B. L. (2004). Demographic aspects of the soft coral Sinularia flexibilis leading to local dominance on coral reefs. Hydrobiologia, 530/531, 433-441
additional source	Williams, G. C. (1989). A provisional annotated list of octocorallian coelenterates occurring on the sublittoral coral reefs at Sodwana Bay and Kosi Bay, northern Natal, with a key to the genera. South African Journal of Science, 85, 141-144
additional source	Verseveldt, J. (1982). A revision of the genus Sarcophyton Lesson (Octocorallia, Alcyonacea). Zoologische Verhandelingen Leiden. 192: 1-91, plates 1-24.
additional source	Williams, G.C. (2000). Two new genera of soft corals (Anthozoa: Alcyoniidae) from South Africa, with a discussion of diversity and endemism in the Southern African octocorallian fauna. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences. 52(6): 65-75.
taxonomy source	Lüttschwager, H. (1915). Beitrage zu einer Revision der Familie Alcyoniidae. Archiv für Naturgeschichte, Abteilung A. 80(10): 1-42.
taxonomy source	Hartmeyer, R. (1916). Zur Deutung einiger Alcyonium-Arten. Sitzungsberichte der Gesellsch. naturf. Freunde, Berlin. 8: 245-259.