Black corals (Anthozoa: Antipatharia) from the deep (916 m2542 m) Coral Sea, north-eastern Australia

Twenty one specimens collected on CIDARIS expeditions IIII between 1986 and 1992, housed in the collections of the Museum of Tropical Queensland (MTQ) were examined and identified to the species level based on corallum and skeletal spine attributes as defined in the literature.
The 21 specimens examined represented five nominal species (Bathypathes patula, Schizopathes affinis, Abyssopathes lyriformis, Parantipathes cf. hirondelle, and Heteropathes cf. americana) from five genera and two families. All five species represented new species ranges for the western Coral Sea. The occurrences of these species expand their known geographic ranges from 1,000 km to > 15,000 km, and the known
bathymetric ranges for some species by up to ~1,000 m