The scleractinian coral genus Stephanocoenia was previously only known from the Western Atlantic with two Pliocene and two extant species, of which two are considered synonymous. Systematic sampling and examination of collection material revealed that the genus occurs from the Hauterivian to extant with gaps in the fossil record during the Campanian, Paleocene and Eocene. During this time the genus was restricted to the Western Atlantic and is unknown in other areas with the exception of one specimen from the Maastrichtian of the eastern Pacific. Thirteen species are separated using non-parametric statistical methods. Two species are described as new. One species remained in open nomenclature and two species can only be compared to existing species. The genus reached its highest abundance during the Early Albian with five species and the Pleistocene/extant with four species. Stephanocoenia demonstrates a regional persistence unchanged over the past 135 million years, which is unique among all post-paleozoic scleractinian corals. Stephanocoenia is also the most ancient hermatypic scleractinian coral genus, which still exists today.

中文翻译：

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自西大西洋早白垩世以来现存珊瑚属Stephanocoenia的区域存留

巩膜珊瑚属Stephanocoenia以前仅在西大西洋有两个上新世和两个现存物种，其中两个被认为是同义词。对采集材料进行系统采样和检查后发现，该属从上特韦期开始到现存，在Campanian，古新世和始新世期间化石记录中存在缺口。在此期间，该属仅限于西大西洋，除东太平洋的马斯特里赫特人的一个标本外，在其他地区未知。使用非参数统计方法分离了13种。有两个物种被描述为新物种。一个物种保留在开放的命名法中，而两个物种只能与现有物种进行比较。该属在阿尔比亚早期有五种，而更新世/现存有四种，达到了最高的丰度。Stephanocoenia显示出在过去的1.35亿年中区域持久性保持不变，这在所有后古生世的Scleractinian珊瑚中都是独一无二的。Stephanocoenia也是至今仍存在的最古老的放血菌核珊瑚属。