Ellisella elongata ( Pallas, 1766 )

Ramvilas, Ghosh, Alderslade, Philip & Ranjeet, Kutty, 2023, The taxonomy of Indian gorgonians: an assessment of the descriptive records of gorgonians (Anthozoa: Octocorallia: Alcyonacea) recorded as occurring in the territorial waters of India, along with neighbouring regions and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and the highlighting of perceived unethical practice, Zootaxa 5236 (1), pp. 1-124 : 87-88

Ellisella elongata ( Pallas, 1766)

Gorgonia elongata Pallas, 1766: 179–180 (Atlantic Ocean).

Scirpearia elongata Simpson 1910: 79–81 , figs. 46–48 (West Indies); Deichmann 1936: 212, pl. 24, figs. 46–48 (West Indies)

Scirpearia cylindrical Toeplitz, 1929: 306 , pl. 7, fig. 7 (in Kükenthal 1919) ( Barbados).

Ellisella elongata Gray 1857a: 287 (no locality); Toeplitz 1929: 285 (no locality); Bayer 1957: 386, figs. 4e, f (Gulf of Mexico, Florida); Bayer 1959: 23, figs 10, 12 ( Surinam, French Guiana, Brazil); Bayer 1961: 284–287, fig. 94 (Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean, Brazil).

Opinion: There is no evidence that this species occurs in the region.

Justification:

These Indian records seem to be either invalid or unconfirmable: Thomson & Henderson 1906: 81, pl. 1. Fig. 10; pl. 9, fig. 17 (Bay of Bengal).

Literature analysis: Originally named Gorgonia elongata, Gray (1857a) transferred the species to Ellisella, Simpson (1910) placed it in Scirpearia and Toeplitz (1929) reinstated it as a species of Ellisella . Thomson & Henderson (1906) erroneously assigned Bay of Bengal material to this species under the name Junceella elongata (Pallas) . The species Ellisella elongata is actually endemic to the central east coast of America, from the northern Gulf of Mexico through the Antilles and south to about the mouth of the Amazon in Brazil. Thomson & Henderson’s Junceella elongata was renamed by Simpson as the new species Scirpearia thomsoni , which is a species of Ellisella that is essentially unreconisable from both the original and Simpson’s description.