The Cyathaxoniidae form a family of solitary turbinate or horn-shaped corals, with septa showing a regular, radial arrangement, and may have been the ancestors of the modern family Turbinoliidae. They have the same geological range as the Cyathophyllidae.
The Cystiphyllidae.—This family consists of solitary corals with very thin septa; the interseptal spaces are filled with an abundant vesicular substance called the "stereoplasm." The systematic position of this family is very doubtful, as the structure is evidently much destroyed, but by some authors it is supposed to be ancestral to the family Eupsammiidae.
These three families, together with the Zaphrentidae (p. [406]), were formerly grouped together as the Tetracoralla or Rugosa.
Sub-Order 1. Entocnemaria.
Madreporaria forming perforate coralla, with calices that do not project above, or project only slightly above the surface of the coenosarc. The zooids of each colony are usually small and crowded. The mesenteries arise in bilateral pairs, and the increase in their number takes place in the chamber between the ventral or the dorsal pairs of directives. The corals included in this order are among the most important of the reef-builders. On many of the recent coral reefs they occur in enormous numbers and of great individual size. But although so prevalent upon recent reefs, they appear to have played a far less important part in the formation of the reefs of the early Tertiary times, and in the reefs of times antecedent to the Tertiary they were rare or absent.
Judging from the structure of the skeleton and the palaeontological history alone it might be thought that the Entocnemaria represent the most recent types of Madreporarian structure, but the anatomy of the zooids points to a contrary conclusion. The zooids are of very simple structure; the mesenteries are found only in bilateral pairs, and all the new mesenteries formed after the protocnemes originate in one of the directive chambers. These are characters indicating a very ancient history, suggesting affinities with the Edwardsiidea on the one hand, and some ancient type of Cerianthidea on the other. There can be little doubt that it was owing to the evolution of a porous skeleton of rapid growth that these corals have caught up and passed the Astraeidae and other more specialised forms in the struggle for predominance on the coral reefs.
Fam. 1. Madreporidae.—The calices of the corallum are small and contain a few perfectly distinct septa. The coenosteum is porous and contains a plexus of the coenosarcal canals, which connects the cavities of neighbouring zooids. This family is divided into a number of sub-families, but it is only necessary here to mention the peculiarities of a few of the well-known genera.
Madrepora.—This genus is represented by an immense number of forms on the coral reefs of both the old and new world. Attempts have been made at various times to divide these forms into specific groups, and a large number of species have been defined and named. The differences between these species, however, are such as may be due to varying conditions of life upon the reefs and not to characters transmitted from generation to generation by heredity. There can be no doubt that when our knowledge of the soft tissues of these corals is extended the number of species will be greatly reduced. There are, however, three principal forms of growth or facies in the genus.
1. The flabellate or palmate colonies with large flat or concave fronds, radiating from an encrusting base: Forma palmata.
2. Much branched colonies, several branches radiating obliquely from a common centre: Forma prolifera.