Eugorgia daniana Verrill, 1868

Breedy, Odalisca, Guzman, Hector M. & Vargas, Sergio, 2009, A revision of the genus Eugorgia Verrill, 1868 (Coelenterata: Octocorallia: Gorgoniidae), Zootaxa 2151, pp. 1-46 : 17-20

Eugorgia daniana Verrill, 1868

Figure 8 , Plate 4A–D

Eugorgia daniana Verrill, 1868: 409 –410; Bielschowsky 1918: 45; 1929: 181; Kükenthal 1924: 346; Stiasny 1951: 65; Harden 1979: 123 –125; Prahl et al. 1986: 17.

Material examined. Syntype series: MCZ 723, dry, Pearl Islands, 11–15 m, F.H. Bradley, 1866-67; MCZ 7080, dry, Gulf of Nicoya, Costa Rica, J.A. McNeil, no further data; YPM 1551a–d; 1629, 1629a–b, dry, Pearl Islands; 11–15 m, F.H. Bradley, 1866-67; YPM 5146, dry fragment, Gulf of Nicoya, J.A. McNeil, no further data.

Other material: COSTA RICA: UCR 1743, dry, Chora Island, Samara Bay, 18–19 m, O. Breedy, 29 March 1998; UCR 1744, dry, Ballena Island, Ballena Marine National Park, 26 m, O. Breedy, 27 April 2002; USNM 49387, dry, Isla San Lucas, Gulf of Nicoya, no depth given, M. Valerio, 15 January 1930. PANAMA: STRI 208 (UCR 1288), dry, Jicarita, Chiriqui Gulf, 10–30 m, H.M. Guzman, 19 April 2002; STRI 407, dry, Isla Seca Grande, Chiriqui Gulf, 20 m, H.M. Guzman & O. Breedy, 26 August 2002; STRI 408, dry, Isla Seca Grande, Chiriqui Gulf, 20 m, H.M. Guzman, 26 August 2002; STRI 440, dry, Jicarita, 10–25 m, H.M. Guzman & O. Breedy, 29 August 2002; STRI 444, dry, Jicarita Island, Chiriqui Gulf, 10–25 m, H.M.

Guzman, 29 August 2002; STRI 460, dry, Bajo Foul, Peninsula de Azuero, 5–20 m, H.M. Guzman, 11 April 2003; STRI 511, dry, Ladrones Island, Chiriqui Gulf, 3–15 m, H.M. Guzman, 14 April 2003; STRI 551, preserved, Isla Bolanito, Chiriqui Gulf, 6 m, H.M. Guzman, 16 April 2003; STRI 871, dry, Achotines, Chiriqui Gulf, 3–10 m, H.M. Guzman, 5 May 2004; STRI 978, dry, Roca Niagara, Pearl Islands, 3–20 m, H.M. Guzman, 23 September 2004; STRI 984, dry, Bajo Poligono 51, Pearl Islands, 12 m, H.M. Guzman, 15 June 2006; STRI 987, dry, Pacheca, Pearl Islands, 11 m, H.E. Guzman, 11 June 2006; STRI 997, dry, NW Pedro Gonzalez Island, Pearl Islands, 5–10 m, H.M. Guzman, 5 June 2006; STRI 1010, dry, Piedra Hacha, Chiriqui Gulf, H.M. Guzman, 11 October 2006; UCR 1325 ( STRI 245), dry, Islote, Chiriqui Gulf, 25 m, H.M. Guzman, 20 April 2002; USNM 34058, dry, Gulf of Panama, no further data; USNM 49367, dry, Gulf of Panama, no depth given, P.S. Galtsoff, 1948. PERU: USNM 49347, dry, Piura, Cabo Blanco, no depth given, M. Lobell, 12 May 1941. ECUADOR: CDRS 05-197, 05-198, Darwin Bay, Isla Genovesa, Islas Galápagos, 25–29 m, A. Chiriboga, 25 March 2005; USNM 59084, 59084, ethanol preserved, Gulf of Guayaquil, 20 m, Anton Brunn R/V, 11 September 1966. MEXICO: CASIZ 73822, ethanol preserved, Isla Danzante, Baja California Sur, 6–21 m, G.C. Williams, 21 July 1990; M564, dry, Islas Gringas, Guaymas, 10–15 m, J.L. Carballo, 27 November 2002; Geof2, dry, Baja California Sur, 8–15 m, G. Shester, July 2006; MNHN Oct.000-0553, dry, Acapulco, no depth given, A. Agassiz, 1889; STRI 1123, dry, Salche, Puerto Angel, Oaxaca, fishing net, 40–70 m, R. Abeytia, 13 June 2008; USNM 52484, dry, Tortolo Bay, Turtle Bay, Baja California, 6 m, Turner, 14 March 1961. USA: USNM 57302, ethanol preserved, Escondida Bay, San Diego, California, no collector, 14 November 1968.

Description. The examined specimens reach up to 25 cm in height and 36 cm in width. Colonies grow in multiple planes, profusely branched. They are flabelliform, broad, and branched pinnately. Main stems are 2–4 mm in diameter, compressed, and very short (up to 1 cm long) or absent, so the branches emerge directly from the holdfasts. Main branches are compressed and divergent, about 1.5 mm in diameter, and the pinnae are around 1.0 mm in diameter, irregularly arranged and closely spaced (Plate 4A). Several of the pinnae rebranch giving off secondary pinnae. Unbranched terminal twigs are blunt, and reach up to 1.5 cm in length. Polyps are colourless, distributed in irregular lateral bands along the branches and do not crowd the surface. Polyp-mounds are prominent with small bilabiate apertures and sometimes yellow spots (Plate 4B). Colonies are bright red uniformly or streaked with bright yellow on the branches or on the polyp-mounds (Plate 4C). They keep the same colour regardless being alive, stored dry, or preserved in alcohol (Plate 4A, D). Some of the main branches have numerous yellow, thin longitudinal grooves that are more evident on dry specimens. Sclerites of the coenenchyme are red and yellow. They are mostly double discs reaching up to 0.08 mm in length, and 0.06 mm in width (Plate 4C, Fig. 8 ). Spindles and disc-spindles are abundant, reaching up to 0.13 mm in length and 0.05 mm in width, with 4–6 whorls of warty tubercles (Plate 4C, Fig. 8 ). Crosses are up to 0.075 by 0.065 mm. No anthocodial sclerites were obtained in the samples for study.

Distribution. Pearl Islands, Gulf of Nicoya, Corinto, El Salvador ( Verrill 1868a), Isla Gorgona ( Prahl et al. 1986), and other localities (see Table 4).

Remarks. The specimens in the syntype series are very consistent in all characteristics, they agree in most all aspects with the illustrated specimen (MCZ 7080). A variation in colour can be found in some specimens, as in CDRS 05-197, where the colony is bright red and a few sclerites are yellow (Plate 4D). A white variety has been observed in shoals in Costa Rica and Mexico occurring together with the red form.

Figures

FIGURE 8. Eugorgia daniana (MCZ 7080), coenenchymal sclerites.