Stolonifera

{{Short description|Suborder of soft corals in the order Alcyonacea}} {{Automatic taxobox | image = Knopia octocontacanalis.JPG | image_caption = ''Knopia octocontacanalis'' | taxon = Stolonifera | authority = Hickson, 1883 <ref name=WoRMS>{{cite WoRMS |author=van Ofwegen, Leen |year=2015 |title=Stolonifera |id=1368 |accessdate=2015-03-25|db=}}</ref> | subdivision_ranks = Families | subdivision = See text }}

'''Stolonifera''' is a suborder of soft corals in the order Alcyonacea. Members of this taxon are characterised by having separate polyps budding off an encrusting horizontal, branching stolon. The skeletons include spicules or consists of a horny external cuticle. These soft corals are found in shallow tropical and temperate seas.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/122750/cnidarian/31906/Defense-and-aggression-nematocysts#toc31908 |title=Cnidarian: Classification |author=Cadet H. Hand Jr. |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica |accessdate=2015-03-25}}</ref>

== Families == According to the World Register of Marine Species, the following families are included in this suborder:<ref name=WoRMS/>

* Acrossotidae * Arulidae * Clavulariidae * Coelogorgiidae * Cornulariidae * Pseudogorgiidae * Tubiporidae

== References == {{Commons category|Stolonifera}} {{Wikispecies}} {{Reflist}}

Category:Alcyonacea Category:Stolonifera Category:Cnidaria suborders