Australian Octocorallia (Coelenterata).

Abstract

This paper presents a taxonomic treatment of four Australian collections of octocorals belonging to the orders Stolonifera, Telestacea, and Alcyonacea. The four collections are located in the Australian Museum, Sydney, the Department of Fisheries, Adelaide, the National Museum of Victoria, Melbourne, and the Fisheries Laboratory, Queensland Fisheries Service, Mourilyan Harbour, Queensland. The material contains 67 species, 20 being found in Australian waters for the first time. Forty-five are known species, but nine of these are more or less completely redescribed. Twenty-two species are new, including eight new species of Capnella. A key to the species of this genus is given.