Palythoa tuberculosa Esper, 1805

Reimer, James D., Poliseno, Angelo & Hoeksema, Bert W., 2014, Shallow-water zoantharians (Cnidaria, Hexacorallia) from the Central Indo-Pacific, ZooKeys 444, pp. 1-57 : 12-13

Taxon classification Animalia Zoantharia Sphenopidae

10. Palythoa tuberculosa Esper, 1805 Figures 7, 9B

Specimens examined

(n=31). RMNH Coel 40465, Rumphius Biohistorical Expedition station 11, Leitimur, Tanjung Nasaniwe, Ambon, Moluccas (03°47'10"S, 128°05'20"E), depth = 2-5 m, collected on November 12, 1990; RMNH Coel 40466, Rumphius Biohistorical Expedition station 30, Hitu, Baguala Bay, Suli, Ambon, Moluccas (03°37'40"S, 128°17'50"E), collected on November 29, 1990; RMNH Coel 40467, Rumphius Biohistorical Expedition station 15, Hitu, Baguala Bay, 0.5 km west of Tial, Ambon, Moluccas (03°38'20"S, 128°19'40"E), depth = 2 m, collected on November 13-14, 1990; RMNH Coel 40471, Rumphius Biohistorical Expedition station 4, Leitimur, Ambon Bay, outer bay, Wainitu (near Ambon City), Ambon, Moluccas (03°42'10"S, 128°09'15"E), littoral on old shipwreck, collected on November 7-8, 1990 by H. Strack; RMNH Coel 40474, Rumphius Biohistorical Expedition station 27, Leitimur, south coast, Hutumuri, Ambon, Moluccas (03°41'50"S, 128°17'00"E), depth = 1 to 3 m, collected on November 27, 1990 by J.C. den Hartog; RMNH Coel 40505, south side of Barang Lompo, Spermonde Archipelago, South Sulawesi (05°03'23"S, 119°19'45"E), depth = 18 m, collected on October 18, 1980, by H. Moll; RMNH Coel 40511, west side of Pulau Samalona, Spermonde Archipelago, South Sulawesi (05°07'25"S, 119°20'10"E), depth = 2.5 m, collected on September 4, 1980 by H. Moll; RMNH Coel. 40517, west side of Pulau Samalona, Spermonde Archipelago, South Sulawesi (05°07'25"S, 119°20'10"E), depth = 2.5 m, collected on September 4, 1980 by H. Moll; RMNH Coel 40519, Snellius Expedition, Rumah Fija, Bo Islands, Halmahera Sea, collected on October 7, 1930; RMNH Coel 40522, Snellius Expedition, Sulu Islands, Philippines, collected on September 11-17, 1930; RMNH Coel 40523, Snellius Expedition, probably Indonesia, no locality data; RMNH Coel 40524, Snellius–II Expedition station 4.011, reef edge west of Mai, Maisel Islands, Banda Sea (05°28'S, 127°31'E), depth = 1-30 m, collected on September 7, 1984; RMNH Coel 40526, Snellius–II Expedition station 4.030, west coast of Pulau Binongko, Southeast Sulawesi, Tukang Besi Islands, Wakatobi (05°55'S, 123°59'E), depth approx. 2 m, September 10, 1984; RMNH Coel 40527, Snellius–II Expedition station 4.030, west coast of Pulau Binongko, Southeast Sulawesi, Tukang Besi Islands, Wakatobi (05°55'S, 123°59'E), depth approx. 0.5 m, September 10, 1984; RMNH Coel 40529, Snellius–II Expedition station 4.030, west coast of Pulau Binongko, Southeast Sulawesi, Tukang Besi Islands, Wakatobi (05°55'S, 123°59'E), depth approx. 8 m, September 10, 1984; RMNH Coel 40530, Snellius–II Expedition station 4.071, Slawi Bay, east Komodo, Komodo (08°34'30"S, 119°31'18"E), depth sublittoral, collected on September 17, 1984; RMNH Coel 40531, Snellius–II Expedition station 4.030, west coast of Pulau Binongko, Southeast Sulawesi, Tukang Besi Islands, Wakatobi (05°55'S, 123°59'E), depth approx. 3 to 4 m, September 10, 1984; RMNH Coel 40534, Snellius–II Expedition station 4.169, reef north of Pulau Bahuluang, Southwest Salayer, Salayer Island, South Sulawesi (06°27'S, 120°26'E), collected on September 30, 1984; RMNH Coel 40535, Snellius–II Expedition station 4.059, off Melolo, northeast Sumba (09°52'30"S, 120°40'18"E), collected on September 14, 1984; RMNH Coel 40541, Snellius–II Expedition station 4.006, Ambon Bay near Eri, Ambon, Moluccas (03°45'S, 128°08'E), depth approx. 3 m, collected on August 29, 1984; RMNH Coel 40543, Snellius–II Expedition station 4.006, Ambon Bay near Eri, Ambon, Moluccas (03°45'S, 128°08'E), depth = 0 to 10 m, collected on August 29, 1984; RMNH Coel 40548, Snellius–II Expedition station 4.052, east of Melolo, northeast Sumba (09°55'S, 120°45'E), depth approx. 3 m, collected on September 13, 1984; RMNH Coel 40552, Snellius–II Expedition station 4.048, east of Melolo, northeast Sumba (09°54'00"S, 120°43'30"E), depth = 12 m, collected on September 14, 1984; RMNH Coel 40553, Snellius–II Expedition station 4.096, northeast cape, Komodo (08°29'S, 119°34'E), depth to 30 m, collected on September 20, 1984; RMNH Coel 40555, Snellius–II Expedition station 4.096, northeast cape, Komodo (08°29'S, 119°34'E), depth to 30 m, collected on September 20, 1984; RMNH Coel 40557, Snellius–II Expedition station 4.096, northeast cape, Komodo (08°29'S, 119°34'E), depth = "shallow water", collected on September 20, 1984; RMNH Coel 40568, northwest of Pulau Kapoposang, Spermonde Archipelago, South Sulawesi (04°41'40"S, 118°54'55"E), collected on May 2, 1998 by B.W. Hoeksema; RMNH Coel 40769, Snellius Expedition, Eude, South Flores, collected on March 6-8, 1930; RMNH Coel 40770, Snellius Expedition, Maratua, Berau Islands, East Kalimantan, collected on October 14-17, 1930; RMNH Coel 40771, Snellius Expedition, Maratua, Berau Islands, East Kalimantan, collected on October 14-17, 1930; RMNH Coel 40772, Snellius–II Expedition station 4.006, Ambon Bay near Eri, Ambon, Moluccas (03°45'S, 128°08'E), depth = 0 to 10 m, collected on August 29, 1984.

Photographic records

(n=12). Pemuteran, West Bali (08°08'S, 114°41'E), May 20, 1998; Pemuteran, West Bali (08°08'S, 114°41'E), May 23, 1998; Napoleon Reef, West Bali (08°08'S, 114°41'E), May 20, 1998; Nusa Lembongan, Lombok Strait, East Bali, July 13, 1997; Nusa Lembongan, Lombok Strait, east Bali, July 19, 1997; Nusa Lembongan, Lombok Strait, east Bali, May 26, 1998; south of Pulau Samalona, Spermonde Archipelago, South Sulawesi (05°07'45"S, 119°20'25"E), October 27, 1997; northwest Pulau Samalona, Spermonde Archipelago, South Sulawesi (05°07'25"S, 119°20'10"E), November 25, 1997; Fauna Malesiana Maluku Expedition station MAL.12, north coast near Morela, Ambon, Moluccas November 13, 1996; North Sulawesi, Bunaken, (01°36'N, 124°47'E), April 9, 1996; Cebu, Philippines, November 21, 1998; Madang, Papua New Guinea, June 1992.

Description.

This zooxanthellate species was originally described from India ( Esper 1805), and subsequently redescribed utilizing specimens from the Red Sea ( Klunzinger 1877). Recent work by Hibino et al. (2013) indicates the species may include some junior synonyms, and has a wide distribution across the subtropical and tropical Indo-Pacific. Polyps are embedded within a well-developed coenenchyme ( ‘immersae’, Pax 1910), and colonies vary in color from fluorescent green-yellow to dark brown or even ochre (Figure 9A).

Specimens in this study averaged 4.7 mm in polyp diameter (n=29 specimens), ranging from 2 to 8 mm. One specimen, RMNH Coel 40553, was notable for its very small polyps (average diameter 2.4 mm, n=10 polyps). Other colonies ranged from 3.1 to 6.5 mm in average diameter, similar to previous reported sizes. All specimens were ‘immersae’. Generally, morphology fit well within the accepted range of Palythoa tuberculosa (see Table 1 in Hibino et al. 2013), although some specimens’ polyps were somewhat smaller than previously observed. These smaller sizes may also be partly due to preservation methods.

Distribution.

Regions recorded in this study (Figure 7). West Bali (4), east Bali (5), northeast Sumba (6), south Flores (7), Komodo (8), Spermonde Archipelago (9), Salayer Island (10), Tukang Besi Islands (12), Maisel Islands (13), Moluccas (14), Bo Islands (15), Bunaken (18), Berau Islands (19), Sulu Islands (20), Cebu (21), Madang (22).

Previous records. This species has been phylogenetically confirmed as distributed over the entire subtropical and tropical Indo-Pacific, from at least the Red Sea to Singapore ( Reimer and Todd 2009), Taiwan ( Reimer et al. 2011c), Japan (e.g. Reimer et al. 2006a), New Caledonia ( Sinniger 2006), and the Galapagos Islands ( Reimer and Hickman 2009).

Remarks.

It is highly likely this species is the senior synonym of Palythoa caesia Dana, 1846 ( Hibino et al. 2013), described from Fiji and commonly reported from Australia ( Burnett et al. 1997). This species is also part of the Palythoa tuberculosa - Palythoa mutuki species complex ( Reimer et al. 2007b, M. Mizuyama and J.D. Reimer unpubl. data).