Bebryce parastellata Deichmann, 1936

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 : 37-38

Bebryce parastellata Deichmann, 1936

( Figure 35 )

Bebryce parastellata Deichmann, 1936:127 , Plate 8 fig. 4; Plate 10 figs. 22–28. — Cairns et al. 2002:33.

Material examined. USNM 56422 , 46– 53 m, off Cape Lookout , North Carolina, March 1, 1961 .

Remarks. Bebryce parastellata colonies may occur in unbranched or sparsely branched forms. Colonies are white in alcohol and have small (1 mm) cylindrical calyces spaced 2–5 mm apart, generally along one side of the slender (1–2 mm) branch. The outer coenenchyme contains small (0.1 mm) cup-like sclerites with a base, with the concavity of the cup facing away from the axis. Other sclerites are bent, foliated spindles and stellate plates or crosses with a raised center, resembling a knob.

Atlantic distribution: North Carolina, 46–53 m; Gulf of Mexico (Mississippi), 60–73 m ; Bahamas, 256– 586 m ; Cuba, 40 m –unknown depth; Barbados, 186 m (type) ( Deichmann, 1936; NMNH collections) .

Figures

FIGURE 35. Bebryce parastellata (USNM 56422); A, sclerites; a) lateral and top view of cup-like rosette from outer coenenchyme; b) stellate plate; c) bent foliated spindle (scale bar = 0.1 mm); (SEM images by S. Cairns/NMNH); B, stem and calyces (scale bar = 1 mm).