Flabellum areum Cairns, 1982

Cairns, Stephen D. & Polonio, Virginia, 2013, New records of deep-water Scleractinia off Argentina and the Falkland Islands, Zootaxa 3691 (1) : -

Flabellum areum Cairns, 1982

Figs. 4A–B , 16

Flabellum areum Cairns, 1982: 35 , pl. 11, figs. 1–5.

Remarks. The illustrated specimen is 21.6 x 15.9 mm in CD, 30.0 mm in height, and 4.1 mm in PD. It has 78 septa arranged in three size classes: 20:20:38. When well preserved, the tissue covering the S1–2 is thick and translucent or light purple.

It resembles F. thouarsii , but can be distinguished by its larger pedicel diameter, its widely spaced septa, and its fuller corallum. It is distinguished from F. c u r v a t u m by having a straight and shorter but fatter pedicel (3.5–5.0 mm in diameter), and a circular flat base; a smaller and usually straight corallum (if curved it is curved in the plane of the greater calicular axis).

Distribution. Previously known from off Mar del Plata, Tierra del Fuego, and the Falkland Islands at 1647- 2229 m, the records reported here extends geographic distribution from 41.5 to 47.3° S ( Fig. 16) and its upper bathymetric range to 749 m, although most records are deeper than 1200 m.

Material. PAT0108DR15, 6, MNCN; PAT1108DR4, 9, MNCN; PAT1108DR11, 1, MNCN; PAT1108BC14, 2, MNCN; PAT0209DR4, 29, MNCN, and 1, USNM 1193310; PAT0209DR8, 3, MNCN; PAT0209DR9, 9, MNCN; PAT0209DR11, 10, MNCN; PAT0209DR12, 7, MNCN; PAT0209DR16, 10, MNCN; PAT0210DR4, 14, MNCN; ATL08Lo62, 1, MNCN; ATL08Lo68, 1, MNCN; ATL08Lo111, 4, MNCN; ATL08Lo114, 1, MNCN; ATL08Lo130, 1, MNCN; ATL08Lo132, 1, MNCN; ATL09Lo10, 1, MNCN; ATL09Lo100, 5, MNCN, and 1, USNM 1193309; ATL09Lo101, 2, MNCN; ATL09Lo107, 2, MNCN; ATL09Lo113, 2, MNCN.

Figures

FIGURE 4. A – B, Flabellum areum, PAT 0209 DR 4, lateral and calicular views of corallum. C – F, F. cinctutum: C, WH 197 / 71, lateral view; D – F, holotype, oblique calicular, stereo calicular, and lateral views of corallum. G – H, Javania antarctica, PAT 1008 DR 12, calicular and lateral views of corallum. I, Desmophyllum dianthus, PAT 0108 DR 11, calicular view of capense form. J, Javania antarctica, PAT 1208 DR 9, lateral view of corallum. K – M, Javania cristata: K – L, holotype, lateral and stereo calicular views of corallum; M, PAT 1008 DR 10, calicular view.