Iciligorgia schrammi Duchassaing, 1870

Devictor, Susan T. & Morton, Steve L., 2010, Identification guide to the shallow water (0 - 200 m) octocorals of the South Atlantic Bight 2599, Zootaxa 2599 (1), pp. 1-62 : 34-35

Iciligorgia schrammi Duchassaing, 1870

( Figure 32 )

Iciligorgia schrammi Duchassaing, 1870:12 .— Kükenthal 1924:39. — Deichmann 1936:82; Plate 5 figs. 3–5.— Bayer

1959b:6; Fig. 2 .— Bayer 1961:66; Fig. 12 , cover photograph.— Cairns 1977:22; Fig. 3 . — Cairns et al. 2002:33. Iciligorgia ballini Kükenthal, 1908:479 ; Plate 23 fig. 3; text figs. L, M, N

Material examined. SERTC S 2697, 49 m, off Sapelo Island , GA, July 12, 1994 .

Remarks. This species, not previously recorded north of Florida, is represented in the SAB by a single specimen collected from offshore Georgia. I. schrammi is considered a deep reef species in tropical latitudes, but the examined specimen has no associated habitat data.

The specimen is dichotomously branched in one plane, and the main branches appear flattened and are 3– 5 mm in width. The colony examined is relatively small, as this species tends to form very large, planar structures in southern latitudes. Because no definite base is attached to the stem it is not known if the specimen is complete. The color is light brown, but this species has been reported to be bright red in life ( Cairns 1977; Humann 1993). The polyps are arranged biserially along the two edges of the flattened stem. Most polyps are visible and substantially armed with curved spindles and rods arranged as collaret and points ( Figure 32D ). Calyces are domelike and have eight distinct lobes. The fistulose branches ( Figure 32C ) distinguish this species from any other in the shallow western Atlantic.

The cortical sclerites are chiefly elongate, spiny spindles 0.5–0.6 mm in length, varying in coarseness. The medullar sclerites are long (0.5–0.7 mm), extremely slender needles that vary from smooth to slightly warty. The anthocodiae have flattened, slightly curved rods up to 0.5 mm, with a few that are a fraction of that size. This specimen is associated with numerous small gorgonocephalid ophiuroids. Atlantic distribution: Georgia, south Florida to Brazil, Caribbean, 3–368 m ( Deichmann 1936; Bayer 1961; NMNH collections; SERTC collection).

Figures

FIGURE 2. Branching colony forms; a) dichotomous (Iciligorgia schrammi); b) monopodial (Telesto sp.); c) whip-like branches (Leptogorgia virgulata); d) rod-like branches (Titanideum frauenfeldii); e) open, irregularly pinnate (Muricea pendula) f) planar (Leptogorgia hebes); g) lobed, with clusters of polyps (Pseudodrifa nigra).

FIGURE 3. Unbranched colony forms; a) flagelliform (whip-like) (Leptogorgia setacea); b) capitate (Nidalia occidentalis); c) foliose (Renilla reniformis) d) club-like (Sclerobelemnon theseus); e) pen-like (Virgularia presbytes); f) stoloniferous (Scleranthelia rugosa var. rugosa).

FIGURE 12. a) Scleracis guadalupensis spindle; b) Thesea nivea spindle and c) double head; d) Bebryce parastellata cup-shaped sclerite and e) knobbed plate; f) Bebryce cinerea knobbed plate; g, h) Paramuricea sp. thornscales; i) crosssection of plexaurid branch, loculi within axis indicated; j) Scleracis guadalupensis conical calyces; k) Bebryce parastellata cylindrical calyces; l) Muricea pendula shelf-like calyx. Illustrations d and e modified from images by S. Cairns/ Smithsonian Institution; illustration i modified from image in Fabricus and Alderslade, 2001; illustration l modified from image by FM Bayer/Smithsonian Institution.

FIGURE 32. Iciligorgia schrammi (S2697, preserved specimen): A, sclerites; a–c) spindles from cortex; d–e) needles from medulla (scale bar = 0.1 mm); B, colony with attached ophiuroids (height approximately 13 cm); C, fistulose branch; D, anthocodia showing orientation of collaret and points.