Leptogorgia virgulata ( Lamarck, 1815 )

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 : 50

Leptogorgia virgulata ( Lamarck, 1815)

( Figure 45 )

? Gorgonia viminalis Pallas, 1766:184 .— Ellis and Solander 1786:82; Plate 82; Plate12 fig. 1.—Esper 1791:(2)51; Plate

11. Gorgonia virgulata Lamarck, 1815:157 Gorgonia ceratophyta, var. flava + var. rubra Donovan, 1825 (4):114, 115. Gorgonia flavida Duchassaing and Michelotti, 1860:32 ; Figs. 11–13 .— Bielschowsky 1929:134. Leptogorgia floridana Verrill, 1864b:31 . Leptogorgia tenuis Verrill, 1864a:8 . Leptogorgia brasiliensis Verrill, 1912:392 ; Plate 29 figs. 3–3a; Plate 33 fig. 7; Plate 35 figs. 7–7a. Leptogorgia sulfurea Bielschowsky, 1929:126 ; Fig. 20 ; Plate 3 fig. 11. Leptogorgia virgulata .— Bielschowsky 1929:127; Fig. 21 ; Plate 3 fig. 12.— Deichmann 1936:177; Plate 19 figs. 24–

34.— Bayer 1961:216; Fig. 66; Plate VII fig. 7.— Cairns et al. 2002:35.

Material examined. SERTC S2488 , 6.7 m, Charleston, South Carolina, November 19, 1971 . SERTC S 2489, 2 m, Georgetown County, South Carolina, August 3, 1970 . SERTC S2713 , 8.5 m, off South Carolina, December 12, 2002 ; SERTC S 2714, 31 m, off Wassaw Island , Georgia, June 3, 2004 .

Remarks. Leptogorgia virgulata is one of the most common octocoral species in the SAB. Colonies have a distinctive colony form with whip-like branches, moderately branching near the attached base, and can approach a height of one meter. The branches are 2–5 mm in diameter with multiple rows of polyp mounds all around, sometimes with a bare strip. Polyp mounds are moderately prominent to flush with the surrounding coenenchyme. The coenenchyme contains short (<0.1 mm), asymmetrical disk spindles and longer (0.15 mm) sculptured spindles, while flat rods are observed near the polyp mound apertures. The flat, serrate anthocodial rods are at most half the length of the longest spindles. Colonies may be uniform yellow, orange, purple, white, or various shades in between, with corresponding spicular coloration.

This species is found in shallow reef environments and can tolerate low salinity environments such as tidal creeks and bays. L. virgulata is often colonized by the barnacle Conopea galeata , the Atlantic pearl oyster Pteria colymbus , and the bryozoans Alcyonidium hauffi and Membranipora arborecens (DeVictor, pers. obs.).

There are numerous lots of this species in the NMNH from the shallow SAB.

Atlantic distribution: New York, unknown depth; Chesapeake Bay to Florida, Gulf of Mexico, 2–59 m (one record from 220 m); Brazil, unknown depth ( Deichmann, 1936; Bayer, 1961; NMNH collections; SERTC collection)

Figures

FIGURE 11. a) Longitudinal section of gorgoniid branch, horny axis with hollow, cross-chambered central core indicated; b, b') cross section of plexaurid branch, horny axis (b) and hollow core (b') indicated; c) cross-section of ellisellid branch, highly calcified axis indicated. Illustration a from Bayer, 1961; illustrations b and c modified from images in Fabricus and Alderslade, 2001).

FIGURE 12. a) Scleracis guadalupensis spindle; b) Thesea nivea spindle and c) double head; d) Bebryce parastellata cup-shaped sclerite and e) knobbed plate; f) Bebryce cinerea knobbed plate; g, h) Paramuricea sp. thornscales; i) crosssection of plexaurid branch, loculi within axis indicated; j) Scleracis guadalupensis conical calyces; k) Bebryce parastellata cylindrical calyces; l) Muricea pendula shelf-like calyx. Illustrations d and e modified from images by S. Cairns/ Smithsonian Institution; illustration i modified from image in Fabricus and Alderslade, 2001; illustration l modified from image by FM Bayer/Smithsonian Institution.

FIGURE 13. a, b) Leptogorgia cardinalis spindles; c) Leptogorgia virgulata spindle; d) Leptogorgia hebes capstan; e) Leptogorgia punicea capstan; f) Leptogorgia cardinalis rod; g) Leptogorgia hebes rod; h, i) disc spindles of Leptogorgia setacea; j) cross-section of gorgoniid branch, unloculated axis indicated; k) hemispherical polyp mounds of Leptogorgia euryale; l) branch of Leptogorgia setacea with no polyp mounds.

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 45. Leptogorgia virgulata: A, coenenchymal sclerites (S2713) (disc spindles and anthocodial rods not shown; scale bar = 0.05 mm); B, close-up of branch (live specimen), showing polyp expansion (stem width approximately 3 mm); C, colony in situ; D, branching arrangement (preserved specimen); E, polyps (live specimen).