Phyllangia americana americana Milne Edwards & Haime, 1849

Reyes, Javier, Santodomingo, Nadiezhda & Cairns, Stephen, 2009, Caryophylliidae (Scleractinia) from the Colombian Caribbean, Zootaxa 2262 (1), pp. 1-39 : 24

Phyllangia americana americana Milne Edwards & Haime, 1849

Figs. 4F–G

Phyllangia americana Milne Edwards & Haime, 1849b: 182 .— Pourtalès, 1871: 30, 79.— Vaughan, 1901: 299.— Duerden, 1902: 555–558, pl. 5, fig. 46, text-fig. 9h (histology and description of living polyps).— Vaughan & Wells, 1943: 178.— Almy & Carrión-Torres, 1963: 156, fig. 15b.— Goreau & Wells, 1967: 448.— Weisbord, 1968: 68–71, pl. 10, fig. 3, pl. 11, fig. 1 (synonymy).— Smith, 1971: 87–88.— Roos, 1971: 74, pl. 36, figs. a–b.— Olivares & Leonard, 1971: 64, pl. 8, figs. C–D.— Porter, 1972: 111.— Wells & Lang, 1973: 57 (listed).— Erhardt, 1974: 406 (listed).— Weisbord, 1974: 403–405, pl. 46, figs. 4–5.— Colin, 1978: 262–263, colour fig. (p. 257).— Zibrowius, 1980: 137.— Cairns, 1982: 290, fig. 128e.— Zlatarski & Martínez, 1982: 127–129, pl. 41, figs. 1–5, pl. 42, figs. 1–3, pl. 43, figs. 1–6 (description and variation).— Castañares & Soto, 1982: Table 1 (listed).— Wood, 1983: colour fig. (p. 109).— Prahl & Erhardt, 1985: 102, fig. 83.— Hubbard & Wells, 1986: 129, figs. 10–12 (in part).—Prahl & Erhardt, 1989: 542, fig. 1.—Humann, 1993: 170–173, 3 colour figs.—Not Cairns et al., 1994: 8 (= P. pequegnatae Cairns, 2000 ).— Pires, 1997: 184.

Stellangia reptans Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1860: 80 , pl. 10, figs. 1–2.— Quelch, 1886: 12 (listed).

Phyllangia americana americana Cairns, 2000: 114–118 , fig. 19, 135–140.— Kitahara, 2007: 502–503, fig. 3I.

Remarks: Cairns (2000) recognized two subspecies given the geographic separation, P. americana americana distributed in the western Atlantic, and P. americana mouchezii ( Lacaze-Duthiers, 1897) distributed in the eastern Atlantic. P. americana americana is a common species, found elsewhere in Colombian waters, colonizing rocky substrates, mollusc shells, dead corals or any hard substrate; furthermore, single corallites or colonies have been observed on man-made structures such as buoys, pilings, docks and the offshore gas platforms located in La Guajira.

Distribution: Tropical western Atlantic, from Beaufort (North Carolina) to Rio de Janeiro ( Brazil); ranging from 0 to 53 m depth ( Cairns 2000). In Colombia, it has been collected from Honda Bay (La Guajira) to the Gulf of Morrosquillo; between 0 and 73 m depth.

Material: INV CNI 61, 1 corallite, BEM4466; INV CNI 194, 1 corallite, BEM1817; INV CNI 214, 1 corallite, BEM120; INV CNI 274, 1 corallite, BEM-E13456; INV CNI 583, 1 corallites, BEM3629; INV CNI 680, 1 corallite, E88; INV CNI 1459, 1 corallite, BEM4292; INV CNI 2157, 3 corallites, E214; INV CNI 2159, 5 corallites, E215; INV CNI 2199, 1 corallites, E202; INV CNI 2201, 8 corallites, E204; INV CNI 2203, 4 corallites, E201; INV CNI 2240, 1 corallites, E203; INV CNI 2293, 2 corallites, E214; INV CNI 2294, 1 corallites, E236; INV CNI 2311, 14 corallites, E214; INV CNI 2317, 2 corallites, E213.

Figures

FIGURE 4. A, Lophelia pertusa, INV CNI396, off La Guajira (Honda Bay), colony fragments, x 1; B–C, Oxysmilia rotundifolia, INV CNI687, off San Bernardo Islands, calicular and lateral views, both x 1.1; D–E, Colangia immersa, INV CNI683, off La Guajira (Punta Gallinas), calicular and lateral views, both x 3; F–G, Phyllangia americana americana, INV CNI274, off La Guajira (Caricari Point), colony from calicular and oblique views, both x 2; H–I, Rhizosmilia maculata, INV CNI178, off Santa Marta, calicular and lateral views, both x 3.6; J–K, Phacelocyathus flos, INV CNI2940, off San Bernardo Islands, calicular and lateral views, both x 3.6; L–M, Anomocora fecunda INV CNI2897 off San Bernardo Islands, calicular and lateral views, x 3.2, x 1, respectively; N–O, Anomocora prolifera, INV CNI2725, off San Bernardo Islands, calicular view showing rejuvenescence stage and lateral view, both x 4.4; P–Q, Anomocora marchadi, INV CNI2303, off La Guajira, calicular and lateral views, both x 3.6; R, Coenosmilia arbuscula, INV CNI855, off San Bernardo Islands, branching pattern, x 1.5; S–T, Heterocyathus antoniae, paratype, INV CNI2076, off Manaure, calicular and lateral views, both x 4.5; U–W, Heterocyathus antoniae, INV CNI740, holotype, off Santa Marta (Neguanje Bay): U, basal view showing sipunculid holes, V, calicular view, and W, lateral view, all x 4.5. Scale bars for A–C, M, R = 1 cm; D–L, N–Q, S–W = 5 mm.