L. Agassiz, 1862
Rigid, angular nectophores, the posterior one, without a somatocyst, usually being much larger, and bearing serrated ridges and teeth. In all but one species the somatocyst of the anterior nectophore has curved over to occupy a ventral position. There are two subfamilies that are distinguished by the presence (Abylinae) or absence (Abylopsinae) of a rectangular apical facet on the anterior nectophore. However, there is an exception in the former subfamily. Sears (1953) made a detailed study of this family using material from the "Dana" collections, and described several new species. However, Totton (1965) pointed out that many of the descriptions were based on deformed specimens. Nonetheless he retained some of the new species, whilst noting that it was not clear whether they were truly distinct. Here we go further and reject all of Sears’ (1953) new species and synonymise them with previously described ones. Several other, more recent descriptions of new species also appear to be based on deformed specimens and are also treated as junior synonyms.
Genus Abyla
Genus Ceratocymba
Genus Abylopsis
Genus Bassia
Genus Enneagonum