Tanacetipathes barbadensis ( Brook, 1889 )

Assis, José Eriberto De, de Souza, José Roberto B., de Lima, Manuela M., de Lima, Gislaine V., Cordeiro, Ralf T. S. & Pérez, Carlos D., 2019, Association between deep-water scale-worms (Annelida: Polynoidae) and black corals (Cnidaria: Antipatharia) in the Southwestern Atlantic, Zoologia (e 28714) 36, pp. 1-13 : 9

Tanacetipathes barbadensis ( Brook, 1889)

Figs 22–27

Aphanipathes barbadensis Brook,1889: 128 , pl. II, fig. 10; pl. XI, fig. 4.

Description. Corallum monopodial or branched up to the first order with branches emerging close to base ( Fig. 22). Colonies in bottlebrush pattern, with primary pinnules mainly arranged in four rows, reaching up to 6 rows. Secondary pinnules inclined towards distal end of primary posterior pinnule; anterior primary pinnules rarely with subpinnulation. 1–4 (more commonly 2–3) long secondary pinnule per posterior primary, usually at proximal end of primary pinnule ( Fig. 23). No more than three tertiary pinnules, when present, near proximal end of secondary pinnule. Posterior primary pinnules 10–26 mm long. Anterior primary pinnules 3–12 mm long. Secondary pinnules 2–12 mm long (more commonly 6 mm). Smooth, conical spines, arranged in 5 to 6 rows visible under optical microscope ( Fig. 26). Polypar spines 0.084 –0.216 mm long (more commonly 0.144 mm). Abpolypar spines 0.048 –0.084 mm long. Distance between spines mostly 0.12–0.18 mm, with ca. four spines per mm in each row. Polyps not seen (lost tissue).

Material examined. MOUFPE-CNI 349, 04°44”31’S; 36°26’ 19”W, 101–108 m (Potiguar Basin).

Distribution. Barbados ( Brook 1889); Ship Mouth, NW Trinidad ( Warner 1981); Gulf of México ( Opresko 2009), Brazilian coast, from Potiguar Basin, RN (present study) to the Abrolhos Bank ( Loiola and Castro 2005), 30 to 108 m depth.

Remarks. Tanacetipathes barbadensis ressembles T. tanacetum ( Pourtalès, 1880) , but differs in having three or less secondary pinnules per subsequent primary pinnule (instead of 3–7 in T. tanacetum ). Our specimens show posterior pinnules smaller than those previously reported for the species, up to 30 mm long versus 60 mm in Opresko and Sanchez (2005), while agreeing with those described by Brook (1889) and Loiola and Castro (2005). The latter, also from the Brazilian continental shelf, presented posterior primary pinnules up to 45 mm long. Therefore, we suggest that the presence of small sized pinnules may be an intraspecific variation typical of Brazilian populations.