Antipathes furcata Gray, 1857

Lima, Manuela M., Cordeiro, Ralf T. S. & Perez, Carlos D., 2019, Black Corals (Anthozoa: Antipatharia) from the Southwestern Atlantic, Zootaxa 4692 (1), pp. 1-67 : 8

publication ID	https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4692.1.1
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scientific name	Antipathes furcata Gray, 1857
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Fig. 35

Antipathes furcata Gray, 1857: 291 ; Schultze, 1903:92; Opresko, 1974: 60–67, fig. 2; Loiola & Castro, 2001: 2–4, figs 2, 3, 4; Opresko, 2003: 487, fig. 3d; Opresko & Sanchez, 2005: 497, fig. 4; Molodtsova, 2006: 148.

Type and type locality. BMNH 1843.2.6 or 8 (holotype, see Opresko, 2003), Madeira, depth unknown .

Diagnosis. “Small colonies (less than ~ 20 cm in height) fan-shaped, branched mostly in one plane; with very long, straight, ascending branches. Larger colonies (20–40 cm in height) densely branched, in a thick plane with numerous overlapping branches. Branches directed upward and away from the centre, with most reaching to the top of the corallum; branch angles very narrow, 30° or less. Spines short, triangular, smooth, 0.05–0.1 mm tall and 0.07– 0.1 mm wide at their base; arranged in 6–8 rows with 30–40 spines per centimeter in each row. Spines occasionally bifid or forked. Polyps 0.7–1.0 mm in transverse diameter; arranged in a single series on one side of branches; 6–8 polyps per centimeter. Colonies white in color when alive.” ( Opresko & Sanchez, 2005).

Distribution. Madeira Island ( Gray, 1857), Caribbean Sea ( Opresko, 1974; Opresko & Sanchez, 2005), and Brazil (fig. 35) ( Loiola & Castro, 2001); from 15 m, in Caribbean Sea ( Opresko & Sanchez, 2005) to 2480 m, in Northeastern Atlantic ( Molodtsova, 2006).

References

Gray, D. R. (1857) Synopsis of the families and genera of axiferous zoophytes or barked corals. Journal of Zoology, 25 (1), 278 - 294. https: // doi. org / 10.1111 / j. 1096 - 3642.1857. tb 01242. x

Loiola, L L. & Castro, C. B. (2001) Three new records of Antipatharia (Cnidaria) from Brazil, including the first record of a Schizopathidae. Boletim do Museu Nacional, Serie Zoologia, 455, 1 - 10.

Molodtsova, T. N. (2006) Black corals (Antipatharia: Anthozoa: Cnidaria) of the north-eastern Atlantic. In: Biogeography of the Atlantic Seamounts. KMK Press, Moscow, pp. 141 - 151.

Opresko, D. M. (1974) A study of the classification of the Antipatharia (Coelenterata: Anthozoa), with redescriptions of eleven species. Doctor of Philosophy dissertation, University of Miami, Miami, 149 pp.

Opresko, D. M. & Sanchez, J. A. (2005) Caribbean Shallow-water Black Corals (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Antipatharia). Caribbean Journal of Science, 41 (3), 492 - 507.