Taxipathes recta Brook, 1889

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 : 53

Taxipathes recta Brook, 1889

Fig. 35

Taxipathes recta Brook, 1889: 156–157 , pl. VII; Opresko, 2002: 437–439, fig. 16; Opresko, 2014: 3, fig. 4A.

Type and type locality. BMNH 1890.4 .9.25 (holotype): 7º54’18”S, 14º28’19.2”W, South Atlantic , Ascension Island, 768 m.

Diagnosis. “The holotype is approximately 26 cm tall, and is broken off at both the top and bottom. It is branched irregularly to the second order. The branches vary in length, the longest first order branch being more than 14 cm in length and the largest second order branch being about 9 cm. Brook (1889) reported that the stem and branches bear six rows of short, slender, rigid pinnules. Re-examination of the type specimen ( Opresko, 2002) revealed that on parts of the corallum there are only four rows and on other parts seven and rarely eight rows. As Brook described, the pinnules are arranged bilaterally in alternating groups, with one pinnule from each row in each group. The members of each group are slightly offset from each other such that each group forms a semi-spiral pattern around part of the circumference of the axis. The semi-spirals cover a distance of 2–2.5 mm along the axis, and there are 11–12 pinnules per centimeter on each side. The pinnules are up to 2.2 cm in length. The pinnular spines are simple, smooth, acute, and conical and hooked upward. The pinnular spines are about 0.14 mm tall, and the polyps are estimated to be about 2.5 mm in transverse diameter” ( Opresko, 2002).

Distribution. South Atlantic, Ascension Island (fig. 35) ( Brook, 1889), and Caribbean Sea, off Colombia (Smithsonian, USNM 86892, identified by D. M. Opresko; available in <http://collections.nmnh.si.edu/search/iz/>); from 768 m ( Brook, 1889) to 1235 m depths.

Figures

FIGURE 35. Geographic distribution of antipatharians species occurring in the Southwestern Atlantic not analyzed in the present work.