Family Renillidae in the shallow (to 200m) South Atlantic Bight

Subclass OCTOCORALLIA (=ALCYONARIA)
Order Pennatulacea
Suborder Sessiliflorae
Family Renillidae

Pennatulacea with heart-shaped rachis containing all siphonozooids and autozooids on the dorsal surface. The stalk contains neither an axis nor polyps.
This family is represented by one species in the South Atlantic Bight, Renilla reniformis (Pallas, 1766). Deichmann (1936) divided this taxon into two forms, americana and typica based on saturation of colony and sclerite color. Colonies found on the coast of the Carolinas and north Florida are pale purple (forma typica) whereas those off the coast of South America are darker andmore violet (forma americana). Bayer (1961) disputed this division, finding both pale and dark colonies in the Antilles. Both forms have been recorded in the South Atlantic Bight.