A reason of taxonomic classication of the families Mussidae and Faviidae (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Scleractinia)

Abstract

In 2012, Dr. Ann F. Budd and colleagues revised the taxonomy of the families Mussidae and Faviidae, based on the published molecular phylogenetic data and the detailed skeletal morphological analyses. In this revision, Atlantic Mussidae and Faviidae were treated as the separate families from the Indo-Pacific ones. Ac-cording to this revision, Indo-Pacific Mussidae and Faviidae, and also the genera Favia and Montastraea were revised taxonomically and these names were changed. These changes may confuse some coral scientists on various situations such as writing papers. Therefore, in this paper, I summarized the revision of the families Mussidae and Faviidae, explaining the reason why they were revised.