ALCYONARIAN

[al.cy.o.nar.ian] n [ultim. fr. Gk alkyoneion, a zoophyte, fr. neut. of alkyoneios of a kingfisher, fr. alkyon kingfisher; fr. its resemblance to a kingfisher's nest] (1878): any of a subclass (Alcyonaria) of colonial anthozoans (as the sea pen) having polyps with eight branched tentacles and eight septa