Taken primarily from Kozloff, 1987, 1996 (Copyright 1987, 1996, University of Washington Press. Used in this web page by permission of University of Washington Press)
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| Lower taxonomic level | Main Page | Alphabetic Index | Systematic Index | Glossary |
| 1a | Colony encrusting, the polyps arising singly from creeping stolons | Order Alcyonacea,
Suborder Stolonifera |
| 1b | Colony a fleshy mass in which several to many polyps are embedded, or irregularly branched or featherlike | 2 |
| 2a | Colony a fleshy mass in which several to many polyps are embedded | Order Alcyonacea,
Suborder Alcyoniina |
| 2b | Colony irregularly branched or featherlike | 3 |
| 3a | Gorgonians--colony irregularly branched, attached to a hard substratum; branches with an internal core of hard material | Order Alcyonacea,
Suborders Holaxonia and Scleraxonia |
| 3b | Sea pens--colony featherlike; the lower portion swollen and anchoring the colony in mud or sand; rachis of the colony with a hard internal rod, but branches without comparable supporting structures | Order Pennatulacea |