Cladocora debilis Milne Edwards & Haime, 1849

Reyes, Javier, Santodomingo, Nadiezhda & Cairns, Stephen, 2009, Caryophylliidae (Scleractinia) from the Colombian Caribbean, Zootaxa 2262 (1), pp. 1-39 : 12-13

Cladocora debilis Milne Edwards & Haime, 1849

Fig. 2V

Cladocora debilis Milne Edwards & Haime, 1849a: 308 .— Pourtalès, 1871: 30; 1878: 205.— Moseley, 1881: 184–185.-- Not Vaughan, 1901: 298 (= Oculina sp. ).—Not Durham & Barnard, 1952: 58 (= C. pacifica Cairns, 1991 ).— Tommasi, 1970: 56, figs. 5d, 6a.— Leite & Tommasi 1976: 101, fig. 2.— Avent, King & Gore, 1977: 200, fig. 11m. — Cairns, 1978a: 10 (listed); 1979: 207 (listed).— Zibrowius, 1980: 31–33, pl. 11, figs. A–L (description and synonyms of eastern Atlantic records).— Zlatarski & Martínez, 1982: 116.— Hubbard & Wells, 1986: 125–126, figs.

4–5.— Cairns et al., 1994: 6.— Cairns, 2000: 88–92, figs. 18,102–107.— Reyes et al., 2005: 324 (listed).— Kitahara, 2007: 502–503, fig. 3F. — Santodomingo et al., 2007: 286 (listed).

Cladocora patriarca Pourtalès, 1874: 42 , pl. 7, fig. 7.

Cladocora coespidosa (sic) Cerame-Vivas, 1966: 263 (listed).

Cladocora arbuscula Tommasi, 1970: 56 , figs. 5–6. [Not Cladocora arbuscula ( Lesueur, 1821) ].

Cladora (sic) debilis Zibrowius, 1988: 135 (listed).

Remarks: This species has bushy colonies with 1 or 2 thin axial corallites, from which secondary corallites branch at right angle, occasionally showing a third generation of corallites ( Cairns 2000). Bipolar corallites are common among the Colombian material. Some specimens collected in La Guajira (30–40 m) show sympodial growth pattern, similar to that described by Cairns (2000), which probably represents an undescribed species. At La Guajira Peninsula C. debilis builds carbonate thickets on the continental shelf, from 50 to 70 m depth ( Reyes et al. 2005). C. debilis was collected together with a high abundance of sponges and bryozoans. Reyes et al. (2005) named this particular association as C. debilis -sponges communities, and they seem to be a common assemblage in the northern Caribbean coast of Colombia, from Dibulla to Palomino, establishing a C. debilis-sponge belt along 42 km parallel to the continental shelf. This sector is characterized by a complex geomorphology related to the occurrence of a submarine canyon (La Aguja Canyon) and a seasonal upwelling event (December to March). The high diversity of crustaceans, molluscs, echinoderms and fishes associated to these coralline assemblages suggest the presence of a large coral formation ( Reyes et al. 2005).

Distribution: Amphi-atlantic, tropical and subtropical, from 28 to 100 m depth ( Cairns 2000; Zibrowius 1980). In Colombia, C. debilis colonies have been collected from Punta Gallinas to off San Bernardo Islands; although it occurs between 20 and 150 m depth, it is abundant in the range of 50–70 m depth. Specimens collected below 150 m depth were eroded and bad preserved; perhaps they correspond to debris material transported from shallower to deeper zones of the continental shelf.

Material: USNM 62352, 8 colony fragments, P-773; USNM 62356, 3 colony fragments, P-775; USNM 62349, P-392; USNM 62368, P-772; USNM 62356, 2 colony fragments, P-775; USNM 62363, P-768; INV CNI 308, 1colony fragment, P-775; INV CNI 311, 1 colony fragment, P-773; INV CNI 322, 1 colony fragment, P-768; INV CNI 866, 2 colony fragments, E88; INV CNI 867, 8 colony fragments, E88; INV CNI 868, 62 colony fragments, E97; INV CNI 869, 29 colony fragments, E97; INV CNI 870, 59 colony fragments, E96; INV CNI 871, 210 colony fragments, E98; INV CNI 872, 75 colony fragments, E98; INV CNI 873, 58 colony fragments, E99; INV CNI 874, 17 colony fragments, E100; INV CNI 875, 2 colony fragments, E101; INV CNI 876, 13 colony fragments, E102; INV CNI 877, 327 colony fragments, E102; INV CNI 878, 37 colony fragments, E104; INV CNI 879, 51 colony fragments, E104; INV CNI 880, 120 colony fragments, E104; INV CNI 881, 28 colony fragments, E105; INV CNI 882, 60 colony fragments, E105; INV CNI 883, 24 colony fragments, E108; INV CNI 884, 11 colony fragments, E108; INV CNI 885, 6 colony fragments, E109; INV CNI 886, 2 colony fragments, E110; INV CNI 887, 2 colony fragments, E122; INV CNI 888, 15 colony fragments, E127; INV CNI 889, 2 colony fragments, E128; INV CNI 890, 1 colony fragment, E129; INV CNI 2017, 10 colony fragments, E103; INV CNI 2151, 6 colony fragments, E237; INV CNI 2152, 1 colony fragment, E215; INV CNI 2153, 1 colony fragment, E240; INV CNI 2154, 3 colony fragments, E235; INV CNI 2170, 18 colony fragments, E236; INV CNI 2173, 4 colony fragments, E238; INV CNI 2174, 1 colony fragment, E234; INV CNI 2238, 1 fragment, E203; INV CNI 2239, 1 colony fragment, E204; INV CNI 2243, 83 colony fragments, E236; INV CNI 2248, 32 colony fragments, E240; INV CNI 2297, 1 colony fragment, E214; INV CNI 2312, 14 colony fragments, E234; INV CNI 2466, 1 colony fragment, E246; INV CNI 2556, 1 colony fragment, D35; INV CNI 2572, 12 colony fragments, D15; INV CNI 2737, 4 colony fragments, D38; INV CNI 2785, 3 colony fragments, D33; INV CNI 2808, 4 colony fragments, D22; INV CNI 2834, 1 colony fragment, D15.

Figures

FIGURE 2. A–B, Caryophyllia berteriana, INV CNI2553, off San Bernardo Islands, calicular and lateral views, both x 1.5; C, Caryophyllia crypta, USNM 99187, Santa Marta, paratype, x 4; D–E, Caryophyllia barbadensis, INV CNI669, off San Bernardo Islands, calicular and lateral views, both x 10; F–G, Caryophyllia ambrosia caribbeana, INV CNI364, off La Rada inlet, calicular and lateral views, both x 1.6; H–I, Coenocyathus parvulus, INV CNI671, off San Bernardo Islands, calicular and lateral views, both x 10; J–K, Trochocyathus rawsonii, INV CNI681, off Gulf of Morrosquillo, calicular and lateral views, both x 3.2; L–M, Trochocyathus sp. cf. T. fasciatus, INV CNI379, off Santa Marta, calicular and lateral views, both x 4.6; N, Tethocyathus prahli, INV CNI905, off La Guajira (Punta Gallinas), calicular view x 2.7; O, T. prahli, INV CNI1514, off Chocó, Pacific Ocean, calicular view x 2.7; P–Q, Tethocyathus variabilis, INV CNI2404, off San Bernardo Islands, calicular and lateral views, both x 4; R–S, Paracyathus pulchellus, INV CNI2305, off La Guajira, calicular and lateral views, both x 4.4; T–U, Polycyathus senegalensis, INV CNI809, off La Guajira, calicular view and colony, both x 2.7; V, Cladocora debilis, INV CNI877, off Palomino, colony fragment showing typical branching pattern, x 0.8. Scale bars for A–B, F–G,V = 1 cm;C, J–U = 5 mm; D–E, H–I = 1 mm.