Table 3.

The comparisons of the species (adults) in the genus Metallogorgia Versluys, 1902 and Pseudochrysogorgia bellona Pante & France, 2010.

Characters/ Species	M. macrospina	M. melanotrichos	M. splendens*	M. tenuis	P. bellona
Branching part	sympodial	monopodial	unknown	sympodial*	monopodial
Branchlets forming a sympodium	yes	yes	unknown	No*	No
Interbranch distance (mm)	5–18	–	unknown	10–18*	9.9–17.2
Polyp height (mm)	1–1.5	1.5–2.0	1.5	1.5–2.0	1.0–3.3
Sclerites in tentacles	rods	rods	plates	spindles	rods
Sclerites in body wall	rods	rods and scales	rods	rods and spindles	rods and scales
Sclerites with its shapes in coenenchyme	rods and scales elongated with slightly serrated edges and coarse surface	scales elongated with relatively smooth edges and surface	rods small, flattened, often with serrated edges and smooth surface	scales small, elongated, often with irregular shape and serrated edges.	scales and plates with many ornamentation
Dendritic holdfast	no	no	unknown	no	yes
Reference	Kükenthal 1919, present study	Wright and Studer 1889, Versluys 1902, Nutting 1908, Kükenthal 1919, Pasternak 1981, present study	Verrill 1883, Versluys 1902, Kükenthal 1919, Deichmann 1936	Pasternak 1981	Pante and France 2010, present study

*, putative species or questionable regarded by Watling et al. 2011.