A new family of octocorals (Anthozoa: Octocorallia) from Cameroon waters

Acanthoaxis wirtzi, a new genus and new species of octocoral, is described and depicted for specimens collected in shallow water off Botha Island, Cameroon, West Africa. A new family, Acanthoaxiidae, is proposed to accommodate the new genus. The characters of this family are the total lack of sclerites; the axis having a narrow, hollow, soft, cross-chambered central core; and the axis surface having prominent spines.