Genus Campophyllum Milne-Edwards and Haime, 1850

Type species: Cyathophyllum flexuosum Goldfuss, 1826; Strunian of Stolberg (Aachen, Germany).

Emended diagnosis.—Cylindrical solitary corallum. Major septa long (2/3 of the corallum radius), extending or not to the axis, straight or sinuous, sometimes carinated. Minor septa long, usually contratingent. Cardinal fossula conspicuous. Dissepimentarium narrow to wide, including concentric interseptal dissepiments and occasional lonsdaleoid dissepiments. Tabulae complete, mesa-shaped. Emended from Hill (1981).

Remarks. —According Hill (1981), Campophyllum is the only member of the family Campophyllidae, nevertheless, “ Palaeosmilia ” aquisgranensis (Frech, 1885) could be included in the same family as it probably evolved from Campophyllum (and has no affinity with the Viséan Palaeosmilia; see Poty 2010). Goldfuss’ (1826) type material of Campophyllum flexuosum was considered by this author as Middle Devonian. Schindewolf (1937) and Frech (1885) considered them as Strunian, a view shared by Hill and Jull (1965) in their re-description of Goldfuss’ types. Hill and Jull’s (1965) paper allowed the definition of the genus to be restrained to Strunian forms. Middle Devonian and Viséan corals attributed to Campophyllum should therefore be reinterpreted. Campophyllum were described is the Namur-Dinant Basin (Belgium, Aachen vicinity and Avesnois; Poty 1984), Poland (Pomerania, Chwieduk 2005; Holy Cross Mountains, Berkowski 2002) and in the Omolon Massif (Siberia) under the names Protocaninia (Onoprienko 1979a) and Campophyllum (Poty and Onoprienko 1984). Famennian corals of New Mexico, attributed to Campophyllum by Sorauf (1992) show several morphological differences (minor septa not contratingent, short counter septum, complex dissepimentarium) suggesting a distinct genus and possibly in another family. As discussed in Sorauf (1992), these “campophids” are somewhat older (lower Palmatolepis expansa Conodont Zone) than the classic European Strunian Campohyllum. In Europe, Campophyllum appears in the uppermost Famennian (base of Siphonodella praesulcata Conodont Zone) or a little earlier (P. expansa Conodont Zone; Berkowski 2002). From the beginning, Campophyllum shows a surprising morphological plasticity that can be explained by the quick recovery of numerous empty ecological niches after the demise of corals at the Frasnian–Famennian boundary and the very slow post-crisis diversification during the Famennian (Poty 1984, 2010; Berkowski 2002). Unpublished data of Edouard Poty personal communication, May 2013) indicate the successive appearance of at least six yet unnamed species in a lineage characterized by an increase of corallum diameter and length of septa (Poty 1999). The final species are very large 30–50 mm), counting numerous long septa prefiguring the morphology of “ Palaeosmilia ” aquisgranensis (Frech, 1885), that probably evolved from Campophyllum at the end of the uppermost Famennian (Poty 2010). Campophyllum and associated genera became extinct at the Hangenberg event preceding the D–C boundary (Poty 1999).