Aulopsammiidae (synonym: Lithotelestidae) is a family of coral in the order Scleralcyonacea.
McFadden et al. 2022, and some other authors in the past, include the content of this family in the family Helioporidae.Morales, H. H., Löser, H. Revision of the family Helioporidae (Helioporacea, Anthozoa; Cretaceous – Extant). Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Abhandlungen Band 287 Heft 3 (2018), p. 351 - 363
Characteristics The family is characterized by a crystalline aragonite skeleton formed by stolons and calices, cylindrical calices with secondary lateral calices, and fully retractable polyps with an exoskeleton formed of calcite capstans and crosses.Bayer, F. M. & Muzik, K. M. (1977). An Atlantic helioporan coral (Coelenterata: Octocorallia). Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, 90(4), 975–984.
Genera Epiphaxum Lonsdale, 1850Lonsdale, W. (1850). Notes on the corals. In Dixon, F. (Ed.), The Geology and Fossils of the Tertiary and Cretaceous Formations of Sussex (pp. 237–324). London: Brown, Green, and Longmans.
The genus Nanipora Miyazaki & Reimer, 2015 is sometimes also included in this family.
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