Scleracis guadalupensis ( Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1860 )

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 : 42-43

Scleracis guadalupensis ( Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1860)

( Figure 38 )

Acis guadaloupensis Duchassaing and Michelotti, 1860: 20 ; Plate 1figs. 14–15.

Scleracis pumila Reiss , in Kükenthal 1919:908.— Kükenthal 1924:161.— Reiss 1929:405; Plate 8 fig. 6.

Thesea guadaloupensis .— Kükenthal 1924:153.

Scleracis guadaloupensis .— Deichmann 1936:108; Plate 6 figs. 5–7.

Scleracis guadalupensis —Cairns et a., 2002:34.

Material examined. USNM 61176, 32 m, off North Carolina, May 18, 1981 . USNM 61244, 30 m, off North Carolina, November 30, 1981 .

Remarks. Scleracis guadalupensis forms small colonies dichotomously branching in one plane. The specimens examined for this work had a stem width of 1–2 mm and a maximum height of 4 cm. The cylindrical calyces are very prominent, tending to be biserially arranged along the sides of the branches, but in a spiral manner. Near the rim of the calyces there is an arrangement of small, warted spindles, and towards the stem the spindles become large (1–3 mm) and are orientated longitudinally along the axis. The large spindles are densely scattered with fine, spinous warts, except near the acute tips where the warts may become sparse. The examined specimens are coral red in ethanol, but pink, gray and white colonies have been reported ( Deichmann 1936).

Atlantic distribution: Bermuda, North Carolina , Florida, Gulf of Mexico, 18–184 m ; Bahamas, 600–715 m ; Mexico, 174–348 m ; Caribbean , 50–358 m ; Costa Rica, 55–69 m ; Brazil, 110 m ( Deichmann, 1936; NMNH collections).

Figures

FIGURE 38. Scleracis guadalupensis (preserved specimen, USNM 61244): A, sclerites; a) large spindles from outer coenenchyme; b) small coenenchymal spindles; c) small rods from anthocodia (scale bar for a = 0.5 mm; b = 0.1 mm; c = 0.05 mm); B, stem section, showing calyces and large spindles in the coenenchyme (scale bar = 1 mm); C, branches.