Adelogorgia Bayer, 1958

Breedy, Odalisca, 2018, Revision of the genus Adelogorgia Bayer, 1958 (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Octocorallia) with the description of three new species, Zootaxa 4369 (3), pp. 327-348 : 329

Genus Adelogorgia Bayer, 1958

Adelogorgia Bayer, 1958: 46 ; Bayer 1978: 1026–1027; Harden 1979: 137.

Type species. Adelogorgia phyllosclera Bayer, 1958 by original designation Type locality. La Jolla, California.

Diagnosis (modified from Bayer, 1958; 1978). Colonies bushy, fan-shaped or sparsely branched. Branching lateral, irregular, or dichotomous; with moderately thick coenenchyme; polyps fully retractile, communicating directly with the longitudinal canal system (gastrodermal canals, solenia); anthocodia with eight subtentacular points consisting of spinous rods, not forming a distinct collaret. Polyp mounds prominent, slightly raised or flat, without specific types of sclerites, but leaf clubs concentrated around polyp apertures. Outer coenenchyme with conspicuous double discs with expansions on one side having various degrees of ornamentation; tuberculate spindles and leaf clubs. Axial sheath containing less developed spindles, radiates and capstans. Axis with wide cross-chambered central core. Loculi between lamellae and central core without mineralised filaments.

Colony colours white, lemon-yellow, pink, orange and various hues of red. Sclerites of the same colours and colourless.

Distribution. The species has been reported from La Jolla, California, USA; Galápagos Islands, Ecuador ( Bayer 1958, 1978); Baja California, Mexico ( Harden 1979); and recently found along Pacific coast of Costa Rica and off Pacific coast of Panamá. Reported from 30 to 300 m deep ( Cairns et al. 2002).

Remarks. The genus was originally placed in Plexauridae by Bayer (1958). Later, he transferred it to Gorgoniidae (Bayer 1985, in key) without explanation. Plexauridae is a morphologically and taxonomically diverse family with approximately 39 genera ( Williams & López-González 2005). The main differences between the holaxonian families, Plexauridae and Gorgoniidae are related to the composition of the axes and the sclerites. In Gorgoniidae the core of the axis is filled with organic fibres mineralised with carbonate hydroxylapatite; in Plexauridae the organic fibres are either mineralised or not, depending on the genus (Bayer, 2001). The coenenchymal sclerites in Gorgoniidae are mostly spindles with warty tubercles in whorls, capstans and radiates that are mostly symmetric and no longer than 0.3 mm. The anthocodial sclerites are basically flat rods with serrated, lobed or smooth borders. In Plexauridae the coenenchymal and anthocodial sclerites are of many kinds, unilateral spinose spindles, irregular spindles, branched spindles, torches, clubs, and variations of them; and can reach up to 0.5 mm long. The anthocodial sclerites are warty rods, spines, and arranged in a well-developed collaret and points, or in weaker structures. Thus, from the morphological point of view, for the time being, the genus Adelogorgia is included in Plexauridae .