| The current centuries old classification of the family Nephtheidae is still mostly based on colony morphology. In this family the Indo-Pacifc genera Litophyton, Nephthea, Dendronephthya and Stereonephthya, and the Atlantic genus Neospongodes form a complex mix of closely related, poorly described species which cannot be recognized using only colony morphology. Attempts with the more modern approach of comparing skeleton composition (sclerites) have been only partly successful because of the extreme variation of sclerite forms present in these genera. The genus Chromonephthea Van Ofwegen, 2005, introduced for several species previously assigned to Dendronephthya, Nephthea and Stereonephthya, was established with sclerite morphology, but the true generic... |
