Corallimorphus rigidus Moseley, 1877

Fautin, Daphne Gail, 2011, Corallimorphus niwa new species (Cnidaria: Anthozoa), New Zealand members of Corallimorphus, and redefinition of Corallimorphidae and its members, Zootaxa 2775, pp. 37-49 : 47-48

Corallimorphus rigidus Moseley, 1877

Synonymy. A complete list of names that have been applied to animals of this species and all taxonomic references to them were given by Fautin (1984); a current list is in Fautin (2010).

Material examined. See Table 4.

Morphology. Color yellowish, hyaline (Fig. 1F). Oral disc may be slightly convex; diameter typically somewhat less than pedal disc. Pedal disc of many slightly concave, or edge may be slightly turned under to form a rim. Diameters of those examined: oral disc 27–50 mm, pedal disc 15–40 mm. Column a third to a half as long as diameter of pedal disc. Mouth a slit; lipless. Acrospheres of most tentacles much greater in diameter than distal end of tentacle stalk. Tentacles of rare individuals with alternately dark and light rings along length (e.g. NIWA 13265). Marginal tentacles all approximately same size or those communicating with endocoels longer than those communicating with exocoels; length inversely proportional to order of endocoel. Most discal tentacles erect, about 5–7 mm, shorter than marginal ones, but some longer. Discal tentacles arrayed in cycles: the six communicating with primary endocoels nearest mouth, the six communicating with secondary endocoels about halfway between mouth and margin in typical-sized animal, most individuals have tentacles near margin that communicate with tertiary endocoels (e.g. Fig. 1F); occasional supernumerary tentacles. Thus ratio of marginal to discal tentacles near 2: 1 in all individuals studied (e.g. 52 marginal: 24 discal, 46 marginal: 26 discal).

Mesenterial insertions visible through column and pedal disc as light lines. Animal with oral disc 45 mm diameter had 34 pairs of mesenteries.

Cnidae. Those few that I was able to measure from NIWA specimens agreed with what is known for the species ( Fautin 1984).

Geographic range. These new records do not extend the known range of the species ( Fig. 5 ) latitudinally, longitudinally, or in terms of depth, but they do provide many more records near New Zealand.

TABLE 4. Specimens of Corallimorphus rigidus Moseley, 1877 , examined in the collection of NIWA .

Figures

FIGURE 5. Geographic distribution of Corallimorphus niwa n. sp., C. profundus, and C. rigidus, based on published records and data presented here. Existing occurrence records are identified as “ old ” and the symbols are open; occurrence records reported for the first time here are identified as “ new ” and the symbols are filled.