Antipatharians, also known as black corals or thorn corals, are an order of soft deep-water corals. These corals can be recognized by their jet-black or dark brown chitin skeletons, which are surround

Both names, i. e. Hexacorallia and Zoantharia, and their English equivalents, also have narrower meanings - see below in the chapter Taxonomy. The name Hexacorallia also has a rare meaning unrelated t