A neotype is designated for the antipatharian coral Antipathes flabellum Pallas, 1766. The neotype was collected off Madagascar (the original type locality is given as the Oceanus Indicus). Morphologically, the neotype corresponds closely in corallum shape and skeletal spination to specimens that have traditionally been identified as Antipathes flabellum. Another specimen of A. flabellum from Madagascar, morphologically almost identical to the neotype and described here, has been sequenced using ultra conserved elements and exon nuclear loci, which showed that it falls within the family currently recognized as Antipathidae.