Litophyton lanternarium (Verseveldt, 1973)

van Ofwegen, Leen P., 2016, The genus Litophyton Forskal, 1775 (Octocorallia, Alcyonacea, Nephtheidae) in the Red Sea and the western Indian Ocean, ZooKeys 567, pp. 1-128 : 13-14

Taxon classification Animalia Alcyonacea Nephtheidae

Litophyton lanternarium (Verseveldt, 1973) Figures 2E, 42, 43, 44

Nephthea lanternaria Verseveldt, 1973: 147 (Madagascar).

Nephthea amentacea ; Verseveldt 1973: 91 (Madagascar).

Litophyton lanternarium Not Nephthya amentacea Studer 1894: 123 (Sulu Islands)(see remarks).

Material examined.

RMNH Coel. 8052, holotype, Madagascar, east of Nosy Komba, near Nosy Bé, Bay of Tsimipaika, Banc de la Lanterne, depth 15 m, 26 July 1967, coll. A.G. Humes; RMNH 8053, paratype, same data as holotype.

Diagnosis.

Litophyton with the internal spindles of the base about 1.0 mm long, often branched, with irregular distribution of tubercles.

Distribution.

Only known from the type locality Madagascar.

Remarks.

The species is sufficiently described by Verseveldt (1973: 147). Here I give an image of the holotype (Figure 42) and present SEM images of its sclerites (Figures 43-44). Verseveldt mentioned and depicted ( 1973: fig. 29a) rodlets in the polyp stalk. I only noticed a few and with the SEM work they also did not stand out as they do in the species with many polyp stalk rodlets; only one is depicted by me (Figure 43E).

The species mostly resembles Litophyton chabrolii but differs in having internal spindles in the base of the stalk with irregular tuberculation; several spindles branched.

The specimens from Madagascar identified by Verseveldt as Nephthea amentacea ( 1973: 91) are very much like Litophyton lanternarium . They only differ in having longer spindles in the interior of the base of the stalk and these spindles having denser tuberculation. I could not find the type material of Nephthea amentacea and therefore the characters of that species remain unknown, but I consider it highly unlikely this species, which was described from the Sulu Islands, occurs in Madagascar anyway.