Octocorals (Octocorallia, Alcyonacea) are distributed worldwide and their taxonomy in the Persian Gulf has been a subject of controversy among experts due to their cryptic features. Here, we present a primary review of the Alcyonacea in the Iranian Persian Gulf with molecular documentation to provide insight into the real diversity within this order. Our molecular study was based on two mitochondrial protein-coding (COI and mtMuts) and one nuclear (28S rDNA) gene sequences, which identified seven families, 14 genera, and 21 species of Octocorallia in the Persian Gulf that were well-supported by maximum likelihood and Bayesian analyses. Our results indicate consistency between morphological and molecular characteristics at the species level. We conclude the presence of some heterogeneous groups of genera creates ambiguity in our analysis.

Octocorals（Octocorallia，Alcyonacea）分布于世界各地，由于其神秘的特征，它们在波斯湾的分类法一直是专家们争论的话题。在这里，我们对伊朗波斯湾的Alcyonacea进行了初步综述，并提供了分子文献，以深入了解该顺序内的真正多样性。我们的分子研究基于两个线粒体蛋白编码（COI和mtMuts）和一个核（28S rDNA）基因序列，该序列确定了波斯湾的八属，十属和21种八倍体，它们得到最大程度的支持。可能性和贝叶斯分析。我们的结果表明物种水平上的形态和分子特征之间的一致性。我们得出结论，在我们的分析中，某些异类群体的存在造成了歧义。