Overview of the genus Briareum (Cnidaria, Octocorallia, Briareidae) in the Indo-Pacific, with the description of a new species Author Samimi-Namin, Kaveh Author van Ofwegen, Leen P. text ZooKeys 2016 557 1 44 http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.557.6298 journal article http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.557.6298 1313-2970-557-1 D01314A3CC0F40EFBED01C0CAD991372 Taxon classification Animalia Alcyonacea Briareidae Genus Briareum Blainville, 1830 Briareum Blainville, 1830: 484 Asbestia Nardo, 1845: 106 Pachyclavularia Roule, 1908: 165 Solenopodium Kuekenthal , 1916a: 174 Diagnosis. Colonies lobate, digitate or encrusting, normally with a whitish outer layer and magenta inner layer, but completely magenta or white colonies also occur. Polyps monomorphic, retractile, and without sclerites. Protruding false calyces appear in varying degrees of prominence or are not present at all. Surface layer with straight or curved spindles. Medulla with sclerites shaped like those of the surface layer but larger and coarser, and with additional branching sclerites, which can be fused. Zooxanthellate. Distribution . The genus has been recorded from the Caribbean and the Indo-Pacific (Red Sea, Persian Gulf, Oman Sea, Arabian Sea, Australia, Indonesia, Micronesia, Taiwan, and Bonin Islands).