Astrea, LAMARCK, 1801: 371

Huang, Danwei, Benzoni, Francesca, Fukami, Hironobu, Knowlton, Nancy, Smith, Nathan D. & Budd, Ann F., 2014, Taxonomic classification of the reef coral families Merulinidae, Montastraeidae, and Diploastraeidae (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Scleractinia), Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 171 (2), pp. 277-355 : 296-298

publication ID

https://doi.org/ 10.1111/zoj.12140

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/6A35B423-1869-FFE5-8589-88AEFB8EFEE3

treatment provided by

Marcus

scientific name

Astrea
status

 

GENUS ASTREA LAMARCK, 1801: 371 View in CoL ( FIG. 4 View Figure 4 )

Type species

Madrepora rotulosa Ellis & Solander, 1786: 166 , pl. 55: figs 1–3 (non Astrea rotulosa Lamarck, 1801: 371 View in CoL ; see Article 70.3.1 of the Code); original designation, Lamarck, 1801: 371.

Original description

‘Polypier pierreux, crustacé, en masse glomérulée ou en expansion lobée subfoliacée, ayant sa surface supérieure parsemée d’étoiles lamelleuses et sessiles.’ ( Lamarck, 1801: 371).

Subsequent descriptions

Lamarck, 1816: 257, 258; Lamouroux, 1821: 57; de Blainville, 1830: 332; Quoy & Gaimard, 1833: 199, 200; de Blainville, 1834: 366, 367; Ehrenberg, 1834: 319; Lamarck, 1836: 401–404; Dana, 1846: 200–205; Milne Edwards & Haime, 1848a, vol. 27: 494; Milne Edwards & Haime, 1849b, vol. 12: 97; d’Orbigny, 1851: 170; Milne Edwards & Haime, 1857, vol. 2: 505; Dana, 1859: 22; Quenstedt, 1885: 1000; Quelch, 1886: 96; Gardiner, 1899: 747, 748.

Diagnosis (apomorphies in italics)

Colonial, with extracalicular budding; no intracalicular budding. Corallites monomorphic and discrete (one to three centres); monticules absent. Coenosteum costate, moderate amount (<corallite diameter). Calice width medium (4–15 mm), with medium relief (3–6 mm). Costosepta not confluent. Septa in three cycles (24– 36 septa). Free septa present, may be regular or irregular. Septa spaced six to 11 septa per 5 mm. Costosepta unequal in relative thickness. Columellae trabecular and spongy (> three threads), <1/4 of calice width. Paliform (uniaxial) lobes well developed. Epitheca well developed and endotheca low−moderate (tabular) ( Fig. 4A, D, G View Figure 4 ).

Tooth base at midcalice circular. Tooth tip at midcalice irregular; tip orientation perpendicular to septum. Tooth height low to medium (≤ 0.6 mm) and tooth spacing medium (0.3–1 mm), with> six teeth per septum. Granules scattered on septal face; irregular in shape. Interarea palisade ( Fig. 4B, E, H View Figure 4 ).

Walls formed by dominant paratheca and partial septotheca; abortive septa weak. Thickening deposits fibrous. Costa centre clusters weak; 0.3–0.6 mm between clusters; medial lines weak. Septum centre clusters weak; 0.3–0.5 mm between clusters; medial lines weak. Transverse crosses absent. Columella centres clustered ( Fig. 4C, F, I View Figure 4 ).

Species included

1. Astrea rotulosa ( Ellis & Solander, 1786: 166, pl. 55: figs 1–3); holotype: GLAHM 104014 View Materials (dry specimen; Fig. 4A View Figure 4 ); type locality: unknown; phylogenetic data: none .

2. Astrea annuligera Milne Edwards & Haime, 1849b, vol. 12: 103; holotype: MNHN IK-2010-699 (dry specimen; Fig. 4G View Figure 4 ); type locality: Australia; phylogenetic data: morphology only .

3. Astrea curta Dana, 1846: 209 , pl. 10: fig. 3a–c; syntypes: USNM 14 About USNM ( Fig. 4D–F View Figure 4 ), 22 (two dry specimens); type locality: Fiji; phylogenetic data: molecular and morphology .

4. Astrea devantieri ( Veron, 2000, vol. 3: 228, figs 1, 2) (see also Veron, 2002: 167, figs 303–305; ICZN, 2011: 165); lectotype (designated herein): MTQ G55847 (dry specimen); type locality: Hawlaf, Socotra, Gulf of Aden, 3–12 m depth; phylogenetic data: molecular and partial morphology.

Taxonomic remarks

Astrea Lamarck, 1801: 371 View in CoL , is the oldest genus in Merulinidae View in CoL , and was first established as part of a class of animals possessing polyps, Polypes Lamarck, 1801: 357. Sixteen of the genera were in the subdivision described as ‘Polypier solide, entièrement pierreux et calcaire’ ( Lamarck, 1801: 369) – having polyps that are solid, completely stony and calcareous – resulting in the redistribution of species of the only stony coral genus prior to 1801, Madrepora Linnaeus, 1758: 793 View in CoL (see Vaughan & Wells, 1943: 2, 3). Subsequent works, including Lamarck (1816: 257), de Blainville (1830: 332), and Dana (1846: 200), attributed as many as 61 species to Astrea View in CoL before the establishment of additional genera by Milne Edwards & Haime (1848a, vol. 27: 494– 496). Astrea View in CoL was then split into several genera, and also assigned Astrea argus Lamarck, 1816: 259 as the type species ( Milne Edwards & Haime, 1848a, vol. 27: 494), instead of Astrea rotulosa ( Ellis & Solander, 1786: 166) View in CoL . Curiously, ‘ Astrea rotulosa View in CoL et ananas, Lamarck’ was ascribed to be the type of Parastrea Milne Edwards & Haime, 1848a, vol. 27: 495, which is a synonym of Dichocoenia View in CoL Milne Edwards & Haime, 1848a, vol. 27: 469 (see Gregory, 1895: 270).

The genus was synonymized by Matthai (1914: 84, 115), as Favia View in CoL after recognizing types of both Madrepora rotulosa Ellis & Solander, 1786: 166 , and Astrea rotulosa Lamarck, 1801: 371 View in CoL , to be part of Favia View in CoL . Matthai (1914: 115) also compared Ellis & Solander’s (1786: 166) type of Madrepora rotulosa with Orbicella annularis View in CoL , a Caribbean species. This specimen, not Astrea rotulosa Lamarck, 1801: 371 View in CoL , or Favia rotulosa Ehrenberg, 1834: 319 , is clearly the original designated type of Astrea View in CoL . However, this specimen bears the closest resemblance to Plesiastrea devantieri Veron, 2000 , vol. 3: 228, especially given their well-developed paliform lobes that are absent amongst the Orbicella species defined in this study. We thus revive this genus to include Madrepora rotulosa , Plesiastrea devantieri , as well as species that have been found to be closely related genetically and morphologically.

Astrea is widely distributed on reefs of the Indo- Pacific, recorded throughout most of French Polynesia and the Pitcairn Islands in the Southern Hemisphere ( Glynn et al., 2007), but absent eastwards from Hawai’i in the north.

Morphological remarks

Astrea rotulosa View in CoL has not been placed on the molecular phylogeny, but it is most similar to Astrea devantieri View in CoL . Each macromorphological character examined is the same state for both species, except for the more compact columellae in the type specimen of the former. Spongy columellae can however be found in Favia rotulosa specimens studied by Ehrenberg (1834: 319; ZMB Cni 739II), and Wijsman-Best (1974: 258, pl. 4, fig. 4; ZMA Coel. 8888), collected from the Red Sea and Indonesia, respectively. Consequently, we hypothesize that Astrea devantieri View in CoL , thus far recorded only from Socotra (type locality), Madagascar, and Mayotte ( Veron, 2002; Benzoni et al., 2011), is a sister species to Astrea rotulosa View in CoL . Although we have limited data to place all Astrea spp. on the tree concomitantly, we infer that Astrea annuligera View in CoL Milne Edwards & Haime, 1849b, vol. 12: 103, and Astrea curta Dana, 1846: 209 View in CoL , are closely related based on morphology.

As this genus is represented only by Astrea curta View in CoL on the molecular tree, no synapomorphies are diagnosed – absence of intracalicular budding and weak abortive septa are autapomorphies. On the morphological phylogeny, however, these features are synapomorphies.

Goniastrea australensis View in CoL has been recovered as the sister taxon to Astrea curta View in CoL + Favites russelli View in CoL in one instance ( Huang et al., 2011; but see Arrigoni et al., 2012). Morphologically, Goniastrea australensis View in CoL is very distinct from Astrea View in CoL as it lacks extracalicular budding, has uniserial corallites, fused walls, confluent costosepta, evenly thick costosepta, and narrow distance between septum centre clusters (<0.3 mm). Most of these characters, except uniserial corallites and confluent costosepta, and many others, also separate the Goniastrea View in CoL proper from this genus.

Favites russelli View in CoL is the sister taxon to Astrea View in CoL on the molecular tree, but it buds intracalicularly and does not have abortive septa. Therefore it cannot be considered in the latter genus.

MNHN

Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Cnidaria

Class

Anthozoa

Order

Scleractinia

Family

Merulinidae

Loc

Astrea

Huang, Danwei, Benzoni, Francesca, Fukami, Hironobu, Knowlton, Nancy, Smith, Nathan D. & Budd, Ann F. 2014
2014
Loc

ASTREA LAMARCK, 1801: 371

Lamarck JBP 1801: 371
1801
Loc

Astrea

Vaughan TW & Wells JW 1943: 2
Gregory JW 1895: 270
Dana JD 1846: 200
de Blainville HMD 1830: 332
Lamarck JBP 1816: 257
Lamarck JBP 1816: 259
Lamarck JBP 1801: 371
Lamarck JBP 1801: 357
Lamarck JBP 1801: 369
Ellis J & Solander DC 1786: 166
Linnaeus C 1758: 793
1801
Loc

Madrepora rotulosa

Lamarck JBP 1801: 371
Lamarck JBP 1801: 371
Ellis J & Solander DC 1786: 166
1786
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