''Melithaeidae'' is a

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

of corals in the suborder

Scleraxonia Scleraxonia is a suborder of corals, a member of the phylum Cnidaria. Characteristics Members of Scleraxonia have a skeletal axis made of calcified spicules, organic fibres or both, which may be separate, linked or fused together. Families and ...

. Members of the family are commonly known as sea fans and are found on reefs in the tropical regions of the Indo-Pacific.Family Melithaeidae
Marine Species Identification Portal. Retrieved 2012-02-22.

Description

Members of the family Melithaeidae are arborescent

colonial Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French Colonial * Spanish Colonial architecture Automobiles * Colonial (1920 au ...

corals forming fans, bushes or trees. The axis or main skeletal "trunk" is jointed, there being nodes, flexible horny joints, separated by internodes composed of hard, calcareous material. The branches divide dichotomously at the nodes and these are often swollen. The minute calcareous spicules in the flexible membrane called the

mesoglea Mesoglea refers to the extracellular matrix found in cnidarians like coral or jellyfish that functions as a hydrostatic skeleton. It is related to but distinct from mesohyl, which generally refers to extracellular material found in sponges. Desc ...

that covers the skeleton are called

sclerite A sclerite (Greek , ', meaning " hard") is a hardened body part. In various branches of biology the term is applied to various structures, but not as a rule to vertebrate anatomical features such as bones and teeth. Instead it refers most commonly ...

s. The exact shape of these spicules is important for identification purposes and in this family there are a range of different sclerites including foliate capstans and spheroids, plain spindles, plain capstans and small and large clubs. Members of this family do not have the unicellular symbiotic algae

Zooxanthellae Zooxanthellae is a colloquial term for single-celled dinoflagellates that are able to live in symbiosis with diverse marine invertebrates including demosponges, corals, jellyfish, and nudibranchs. Most known zooxanthellae are in the genus ''S ...

that grows in the tissues of many other corals.

Genera

The World Register of Marine Species includes the following genera in the family: *'' Asperaxis'' Alderslade, 2007 *'' Melithaea'' Milne-Edwards, 1857

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3267454 Scleraxonia Cnidarian families Taxa named by John Edward Gray