Adelogorgia telones Bayer, 1978

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 : 335-337

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.11646/zootaxa.4369.3.2
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:4939D717-EC0A-488C-86C7-62D0BD2F976F
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5977068
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03EA87C4-FFAE-EC21-FF27-AF88FDB4A1B3
treatment provided by	Plazi
scientific name	Adelogorgia telones Bayer, 1978
status

Treatment

Adelogorgia telones Bayer, 1978 View in CoL

Figs. 4-6 View FIGURE 4 View FIGURE 5 View FIGURE 6 , 3B View FIGURE3

Adelogorgia telones Bayer, 1978: 1027 View in CoL –1033; Breedy et al. 2009: 28.

Material examined.

Holotype: USNM 57453 About USNM , ethanol preserved, Kicker Rock , Galápagos Islands, Ecuador, 23m deep, D. Hope, 19 February 1978.

Paratypes: USNM 57454, 57455 data as the holotype.

Diagnosis. Colonies flabellate, branching mostly lateral, without anastomoses. Branches of nearly uniform thickness 2.5–3.5 mm in diameter with clavate tips about 1 mm greater, up to 4.6 mm in diameter. End branches 0.4–4 cm long ( Fig. 4 View FIGURE 4 A-B, 6A-B). Axes of gorgonin layers, loculi between lamellae and central core with complex meshes of not mineralised filaments ( Fig. 3B View FIGURE3 ). Polyps distributed all around the branches, 1.5-2.2 mm apart ( Fig. 4B View FIGURE 4 , 6B View FIGURE 6 ). Anthocodia with approximately 15–20 slightly curved spinous rods in points, 0.16–0.31 mm long and small curved rods from oral disk ( Fig. 5 View FIGURE 5 A-B). Polyp mounds flat, blending with the adjacent coenenchyme ( Fig. 4B View FIGURE 4 , 6B View FIGURE 6 ), without a special type of sclerites but mostly containing leaf clubs and spindles. Coenenchyme with double discs with serrate edges or foliate crests, 0.06–0.1 mm long and 0.06–0.08 mm wide ( Fig. 5G View FIGURE 5 ); tuberculate spindles, 0.11–0.16 mm long and 0.06–0.085 mm wide ( Fig. 5 View FIGURE 5 D-E), and leaf clubs 0.13–0.17 mm long and 0.032– 0.06 mm wide ( Fig. 5C View FIGURE 5 ). Axial sheath containing less developed spindles, radiates and capstans 0.06–0.09 mm long and 0.05–0.07 mm wide ( Fig. 5F View FIGURE 5 ).

Colony colours, white, or lemon–yellow ( Figs. 4A–B View FIGURE 4 , 6A–B View FIGURE 6 ). Sclerite colours, whitish and transparent, or yellow or ( Figs. 4C View FIGURE 4 , 6C View FIGURE 6 ).

Distribution. Known only from the type locality, Kicker Rock, the Galápagos Islands. No specimens of this species have been recovered since the initial description of the species ( Breedy et al. 2009).

Variability. The species was described from three specimens (two white and one lemon-yellow) ( Figs. 4 View FIGURE 4 , 6 View FIGURE 6 ), measuring 7.5–10 cm long and 9–11 cm wide. The only difference despite the colour is that in the lemon-yellow variety, the anthocodial sclerites are larger than in the two white specimens, reaching up to 0.31 mm long.

Remarks. This species is separated from the others by its thick branches and especially the colours of colonies and sclerites, because none of the other four species have white or lemon-yellow colonies. The polyp-mounds are almost flat in A. phyllosclera . This means that when polyps retract, they are completely flush with the surrounding coenenchymal surface or form a low coenenchymal rim ( Bayer 1979). Differences between this species and the others are shown in Tables 1 and 2.