| 1a |
Zooecia
connected
by creeping stolons
(in Immergentia and Penetrantia,
the colonies are embedded
in calcareous shells of mollusks and barnacles) |
2 |
| 1b |
Zooecia
united
into a fleshy, leathery, or gelatinous mass that is erect or sheetlike |
6 |
| 2a |
Colony embedded in a calcareous shell, the
apertures of
the zooids
about flush with the surface |
Immergentia sp. and Penetrantia
sp. |
| 2b |
Colony not embedded in a calcareous shell |
3 |
| 3a |
Zooecia
attached
to stolons
by slender
stalks |
Triticella pedicellata |
| 3b |
Zooecia
attached
directly to stolons,
without obvious stalks |
4 |
| 4a |
Each zooecium
expanded at the base, joined to several stolons;
gizzard absent (surface covered with a fine layer of silt) |
Nolella stipulata |
| 4b |
Each zooecium
attached to a single stolon;
gizzard present or absent |
5 |
| 5a |
Zooecia
0.3-0.5
mm long, the proximal 1/3 of each one adhering to the stolon |
Buskia nitens |
| 5b |
Zooecia
1.2-2
mm long, distinct from the stolon
for their entire length (gizzard present) |
Bowerbankia gracilis |
| 6a |
Colony an erect, club-shaped structure with an
annulated stalk |
Clavopora occidentalis |
| 6b |
Colony not club-shaped and without an annulated
stalk |
7 |
| 7a |
Colony generally erect, rarely encrusting,
consisting
of flattened
lobes bearing many forked spines (color pale tan to dark brown) |
Flustrellidra
corniculata |
| 7b |
Colony erect or encrusting, without spines |
8 |
| 8a |
Colony erect, lobed, attached by a short stalk to
a
basal disk |
Alcyonidium
pedunculatum |
| 8b |
Colony encrusting, forming a gelatinous coating
over
the substratum (Alcyonidium
polyoum in original key) |
Alcyonidium
gelatinosum |