Sclerobelemnon theseus Bayer, 1959

Devictor, Susan T. & Morton, Steve L., 2010, Identification guide to the shallow water (0 - 200 m) octocorals of the South Atlantic Bight 2599, Zootaxa 2599 (1), pp. 1-62 : 55

Sclerobelemnon theseus Bayer, 1959

( Figure 48 )

Sclerobelemnon theseus Bayer, 1959b:33 ; Figs. 18–21 ; 1961:304; Fig. 98.— Bayer 1961:304; Fig. 98.

Material examined. SERTC S 2312, 79 m, off Charleston , South Carolina, April 23, 1977 .

Remarks. This species has a club-like shape with the peduncle slightly longer than the rachis. The distal end of the peduncle is slightly pointed and not inflated to any extent. The examined specimen is about 7 mm at its widest point and 65 mm in length. The rachis contains some exsert autozooids but most are contracted, with minute, indistinct siphonoozooids scattered between polyps. The autozooids are arranged in 12 indistinct longitudinal rows, leaving a bare dorsal streak along the back of the colony. The axis is slightly flexible and the coenenchyme is tough and rubbery. The color of the colony is creamy white in alcohol.

The autozooids contain sclerites in the form of plates that resemble double sided axe heads or plates with a medial constriction, reaching 0.3 mm in length. The ends of some plates have serrated or ridged edges. The rachis contains similar plates with a medial constriction and serrations, and the peduncle contains smaller plate-like bodies. This is the first record of this species in the SAB, although one specimen in the USNM from Cape Fear is identified as Sclerobelemnon sp. and was not examined for this work .

Atlantic distribution: Charleston, 79 m, Gulf of Mexico (unknown depth), Surinam, Trinidad, 57 m ( Bayer 1959b; Bayer 1961; Williams 1995; NMNH collections; SERTC collection).

Figures

FIGURE 18. a) Telesto sanguinea colony; sclerites of b) Carijoa riisei; c) Telesto fruticulosa; d) Telesto nelleae; e) Telesto sanguinea.

FIGURE 19. Iciligorgia schrammi; a) fistulose branch, tip indicated; b) needles

FIGURE 20. a) Bebryce cinerea knobbed plate; Bebryce parastellata b) knobbed star and c) cup-shaped rosette (b and c modified from images by S. Cairns/Smithsonian Institution).

FIGURE 21. a) Scleracis guadalupensis spindle; b) Thesea nivea spindle; c) Muricea pendula spindle; d, e) Paramuricea sp. thornscales.

FIGURE 48. Sclerobelemnon theseus (S2312, preserved specimen): A, sclerites from peduncle (scale bar = 0.05 mm); B, whole colony (scale bar = 1 cm); C, close up of rachis showing dorsal streak and polyps.