Caryophyllia (Acanthocyathus) dentata (Moseley, 1881)

Filander, Zoleka N., Kitahara, Marcelo V., Cairns, Stephen D., Sink, Kerry J. & Lombard, Amanda T., 2021, Azooxanthellate Scleractinia (Cnidaria, Anthozoa) from South Africa, ZooKeys 1066, pp. 1-198 : 1

Caryophyllia (Acanthocyathus) dentata (Moseley, 1881)

Acanthocyathus sp. -Moseley 1876: 550.

Acanthocyathus dentatus Moseley, 1881: 143, pl. 2, fig. 7A-C.

Caryophyllia (Acanthocyathus) dentata . - Cairns and Zibrowius 1997: 98-99, fig. 8A-D. -Kitahara et al. 2010: 92, 112.

Type locality.

Off Kandavu Islands, Fiji (HMS ‘Challenger’ stn. 174D: 19°05'50"S, 178°16'20"E); 384 m ( Moseley 1881).

Type material.

The holotype is deposited at the NHMUK (Kitahara et al. 2010).

Material examined.

USNM 91540 (1 damaged specimen): Eastern margin, 23 km from Shaka’s Rock/off Tongati Estuary, 29°41'14.39"S, 31°21'10.80"E; 85 m.

Distribution.

Regional: Eastern margin of South Africa, off Shaka’s Rock; 85 m. Elsewhere: Fiji ( Moseley 1881); and Indonesia ( Cairns and Zibrowius 1997); 90-384 m.

Remarks.

The specimen reported herein is severely damaged and therefore tentatively added to the South African coral fauna- thus representing a new record for the region. Nonetheless, representatives from Indonesia have been well described by Cairns and Zibrowius (1997), who noted the discrepancies in the septal symmetry between the holotype (hexameral) and the specimens they examined (decameral). Apart from the symmetry, the same authors also pointed out a distinctively ridged C1-2 of their studied specimens in relation to the holotype.