Cavernulina orientalis ( Thomson & Simpson, 1909 )

Veena, S. & Kaladharan, P., 2012, The first record of Cavernulina orientalis (Thomson & Simpson, 1909) (Octocorallia: Pennatulacea: Veretillidae) from the Bay coast of Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, Zootaxa 3204, pp. 61-64 : 62

Cavernulina orientalis ( Thomson & Simpson, 1909)

( Fig. 1)

Cavernularia orientalis Thompson and Simpson 1909: 305–306 , pl. 9, figs. 1a, 1b; Hickson 1916: 52–55, fig. 9; 1937: 110–115, figs. 1, 2.

Cavernulina orientalis Kuekenthal & Broch 1911: 175 ; Kuekenthal 1915: 10; D’Hondt 1984: 629; Imahara 1991: 83–84, fig. 20, pl. IIk; Williams 1989: 307–308.

Material examined. VSCo2, Mangamaripeta, Visakhapatnam, 17°51'3.35"N and 83°24'50.45"E, beach, coll. S. Veena. 9 July 2009, 2 colonies.

Description. One of the two colonies has a total length of 48mm ( Fig. 1A). It is clavate and elongate and has a peduncle 27 mm long and 3 mm wide that occupies about 56% of colony length. The rachis length is about 44% of colony length; 21 mm long and 7 mm maximum width. Both rachis and peduncle are thick and fleshy. Autozooids and siphonozooids are distributed on the rachis surface with no orderly pattern of arrangement. The autozooids are all completely retracted, some to level with the surface of the rachis and others forming dents, all appearing as dark brown to black pores, 0.30–1.00 mm diameter, and separated by distances varying from 0.50–1.00 mm. The siphonozooids are smaller than the autozooids and are distributed between them ( Fig. 1A). A white, highly calcified internal axis is present, 19mm in length. It extends from the rachis down to about the upper 1/4 of the peduncle; 39% of colony length. The axis is rod shaped with a median whorl of projections and is 1 mm in maximum diameter ( Fig. 1B). Sclerites are present in the surface of rachis and include crutches 0.60–0.90 mm long, bone-shaped rods 0.40–0.80 mm long and spindles 0.40– 0.90 mm long ( Fig. 1C). Sclerites from the interior of rachis are similar in shape and size to those of the surface. Peduncle surface sclerites are oval to spindle-shaped and many have a pre-median whorl. They are 0.30–0.98 mm long and the ends are rounded to bluntly pointed ( Fig. 1D). Peduncle interior sclerites are sparse and similar in shape and size to those of the peduncle surface. Colouration is greyish white in the rachis, with dark brown to black autozooids. Sclerites are colourless. The second colony is 31mm long and its characters are much the same as those of the one described above.

This is the first record of Cavernulina orientalis from the Visakhapatnam coast and adds a new record to the benthic fauna of this region.