A REVISION OF THE NOMENCLATURE OF THE FAMILY NEPHTHEIDAE (OCTOCORALLIA: ALCYONACEA)

As formerly mentioned (UTINOMI, 1951), the nomenclatorial history of the northern Nephtheidae has been quite confused. The first number of the northern Nephtheidae is RATHKE's Gorgonia florida (now known as Duva florida) which has been assigned to various genera such as Nephthya, Eunephthya, Gersemia, Duva, Paraspongodes and Capnella. In 1869, VERRILL established a new genus Eunephthya to accomodate a southern form Nephthya thyrsoides VERRILL (1865) taken from the Cape of good Hope, South Africa, together with a northern form Eunephthya glomerata (LtiTKEN MS.) taken from Greenland. Apparently, the principal source of confusion between later workers has been the superficial resemblances between the two species living in northern and southern waters, without considering the earliest invalid designation, although VERRILL himself confirmed the former species as the type of Eunephthya many years later (VERRILL, 1922, p. 29). Unfortunately, VERRILL's Eunephthya is a synonym of Capnella which GRAY (1869, Feb.) created for a tropical form Alcyonium imbricatum Quoy & GAIMARD only a month before VERRILL's, so that it cannot be used at present (UTINOMI, 1960, p. 28). In 1878, MARENZELLER established another new genus Gersemia for two retractile northern nephtheids. Some years later, the Scandinavian zoologist