Alcyonacea
General description:
Soft-corals are colonial octocorals. They have small polyps with eight tentacles and over the body there are small calcium carbonate sclerites. The branching arrangement, size of polyp and colour of the colony can vary and can be useful in taxonomy, as are the shape and arrangement of the sclerites.
Phylogeny:
Class Anthozoa
Subclass Octocorallia
Order Alcyonacea
Habitat:
Soft corals live attached to rock and coral or embedded in soft sediment.