Aulopsammiidae (synonym: Lithotelestidae) is a family of coral in the order Scleralcyonacea.
McFadden et al. 2022, and some other authors in the past, include the content of this family in the family Helioporidae.[Morales, H. H., Löser, H. Revision of the family Helioporidae (Helioporacea, Anthozoa; Cretaceous – Extant). Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Abhandlungen Band 287 Heft 3 (2018), p. 351 - 363 [1]]
Characteristics
The family is characterized by a crystalline
aragonite skeleton formed by
and calices, cylindrical calices with secondary lateral calices, and fully retractable polyps with an
exoskeleton formed of
calcite capstans and crosses.
[Bayer, F. M. & Muzik, K. M. (1977). An Atlantic helioporan coral (Coelenterata: Octocorallia). Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, 90(4), 975–984. ]
Genera
-
Epiphaxum Lonsdale, 1850
[Lonsdale, W. (1850). Notes on the corals. In Dixon, F. (Ed.), The Geology and Fossils of the Tertiary and Cretaceous Formations of Sussex (pp. 237–324). London: Brown, Green, and Longmans.]
The genus Nanipora Miyazaki & Reimer, 2015 is sometimes also included in this family.
