Aphanipathidae is a family of

corals Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secr ...

in the order

Antipatharia Antipatharians, also known as black corals or thorn corals, are an order of soft deep-water corals. These corals can be recognized by their jet-black or dark brown chitin skeletons, surrounded by the polyps (part of coral that is alive). Antipat ...

. Species in this family have short, blunt polyp tentacles that tend to be uniform. Spines range from conical to cylindrical and usually have conical tubercles. Unlike

Antipathidae Antipathidae is a family of corals in the order Antipatharia, commonly known as black corals. Taxonomy This family contains the following genera according to the World Register of Marine Species The World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) ...

, species in this family are not notched or branched at the end.

References

Antipatharia Cnidarian families {{hexacorallia-stub