Briareum violaceum (Quoy & Gaimard, 1833)

Samimi-Namin, Kaveh & van Ofwegen, Leen P., 2016, Overview of the genus Briareum (Cnidaria, Octocorallia, Briareidae) in the Indo-Pacific, with the description of a new species, ZooKeys 557, pp. 1-44 : 12-14

Taxon classification Animalia Alcyonacea Briareidae

Briareum violaceum (Quoy & Gaimard, 1833) Figures 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26 E–F

Clavularia violacea Quoy & Gaimard, 1833: 262, pl. 21 figs 13-16 (Solomon Islands).

Pachyclavularia erecta Roule, 1908: 165, pl. 6 figs 4-5 (Ambon); Thomson and Dean 1931: 19, pl. 2 figs 4, 8-9, pl. 5 figs 6-7, 9, pl. 16 figs 1-2 (Indonesia); Macfadyen 1936: 20 (Great Barrier Reef); Imahara 1996: 19 (Japan).

Pachyclavularia violacea ; Gohar 1940: 20; Utinomi 1956: 223 (Bonin Islands), 1959 (Taiwan); Verseveldt 1960: 211 (Indonesia), 1972: 457 (Marshall Islands); Utinomi 1976: 3; Benayahu 1995: 106 (Sesoko Island, Japan); van Ofwegen 1996: 207 (Bismarck Sea); Imahara 1996: 19 (Okinawa, Japan).

Briareum violacea ; Benayahu 2002: 20 (Ryukyu Archipelago, Japan); Benayahu et al. 2004 (South Taiwan).

Briareum violaceum ; Alderslade and McFadden 2007: 42.

Not Solenopodium violaceum Broch & Horridge, 1956: 157 (= Briareum hamrum ; Red Sea).

Material examined.

RMNH Coel. 38608, Sabah, Layang Layang Atoll, outer reef on east-end of atoll, 07°22.69'N 113°52.23'E, depth 5 m, 13 October 2006 (0CDN 9323-S); RMNH Coel. 40883, PAL.100, 21 May 2010 Palau, Koror, Siaies Tunnel, 7°18.686'N, 134°13.596'E, 31 m depth, coll. C.S. McFadden; RMNH Coel. 40001, Palau, Northern Reefs, northwest corner, just east of reef tip, slope, rock, 29 June 2008, depth 20 m, 07°58.96'N, 134°34.39'E (0CDN9611-H); RMNH Coel. 41426, MAL.04 Indonesia, Ambon, Outer bay, south coast northeast of Cape Hahurong, 03°47'S, 128°06'E, calcareous platforms in littoral and shallow sublittoral, rather steep slope with more than 50% coral cover; snorkelling and diving, depth 10-27 m; 6 November 1996, coll. L.P. van Ofwegen; RMNH Coel. 41427, BUN.15, Indonesia, N. Sulawesi, Bunaken Park (main coast), Tanjung Pisok, reef flat, 124°48'E 01°34'N, SCUBA diving. 11 May 1998, coll. B.W. Hoeksema and L.P. van Ofwegen; RMNH Coel. 41428, CEB.08, Philippines, Cebu Strait, west of Bohol, north side of Cabilao Island, Cabacungan Point, 9°51.55'N 123°45.95'E, reef edge with dense coral cover, overhanging wall with caves; snorkelling and SCUBA diving, 11 November 1999, coll. L.P. van Ofwegen; RMNH Coel. 41429, CEB.09, Philippines, Cebu Strait, W of Bohol, north side of Cabilao Island, NE of Looc, 9°53.59'N 123°46.92'E, reef edge with dense coral cover, overhanging wall with caves; snorkelling and SCUBA diving, 12, 13 November 1999, coll. L.P. van Ofwegen;. RMNH Coel. 41430, Bali Lombok Strait Exp. 2001, NNM-LIPI-WWF, BAL.04, Indonesia, Bali, Sanur, Jeladi Willis, south of channel entrance; 8°40.983'S, 115°16.050'E, slowly declining shallow reef slope, sandy base; SCUBA-diving to 10 m depth; 1 April 2001, coll. L.P. van Ofwegen and M. Slierings; RMNH Coel. 41431, Indonesia Ambon. Bali Lombok Strait Exp. 2001, NNM-LIPI-WWF, BAL.06, Indonesia, Bali, Sanur, Bangsal Point; 8°40.233'S, 115°15.867'E, slowly declining shallow reef slope, sandy base; SCUBA diving to 9 m depth; 2 April 2001, coll. L.P. van Ofwegen and M. Slierings; RMNH Coel. 41432, Kepulauan Seribu Exped. 2005, SER.23, Indonesia, Java Sea, Kepulauan Seribu (Thousand Islands), off Jakarta, Jukung Island, northwest side, 5°34.017'S, 106°31.633'E, SCUBA diving and snorkelling, 15 September 2005, coll. L.P. van Ofwegen and M. Slierings; RMNH Coel. 41433, Kepulauan Seribu Exped. 2005, SER.25, Indonesia, Java Sea, Kepulauan Seribu (Thousand Islands), off Jakarta, Kotok Kecil Island, northwest side, 5°41.933'S, 106°32.383'E, SCUBA diving and snorkelling, 16 September 2005; RMNH Coel. 41434, Buginesia Progr. UNHAS- NNM 1994/1995, SUL.BTN, Indonesia, SW Sulawesi, Spermonde Archipelago, north of Bone Tambung (= 17 km NW of Ujung Pandang = Makassar), 5°02'S, 119°16'E, coral reef; SCUBA diving, 14 May 1994, coll. B.W. Hoeksema; RMNH Coel. 41435, CEB.13, Philippines, Cebu Strait, W of Bohol, N side of Sandingan Island, 9°51.87'N 123°47.76'E, 0-7 m sandy, patchy coral cover, 7-24 m rubble slope, snorkelling and SCUBA div ing; 13 November 1999, coll. L.P. van Ofwegen; RMNH Coel. 41436, Kepulauan Seribu Exped. 2005, SER.06, Indonesia, Java Sea, Kepulauan Seribu (Thousand Islands), off Jakarta, Dapur Island, northwest side, 5°56.733'S, 106°43.450'E, SCUBA diving and snorkelling, 9 September 2005; RMNH Coel. 41437, Indonesia Ambon. Bali Lombok Strait Exp. 2001, NNM-LIPI-WWF, BAL.25, Indonesia, Bali, northwest of Nusa Lembongan, Lembongan Bay, Bali Hai pontoon, off Desa Jungutbatu, 8°40.417'S, 115°26.300'E; shallow bay with few patches of coral; SCUBA-diving to 12 m depth; 17 April 2001, coll. L.P. van Ofwegen and M. Slierings; RMNH Coel. 41438, MAL.04 Indonesia, Ambon, Outer bay, south coast northeast of Cape Hahurong, 03°47'S, 128°06'E; calcareous platforms in littoral and shallow sublittoral, rather steep slope with more than 50% coral cover; snorkelling and diving, depth 2-28 m, 6 November 1996, coll. L.P. van Ofwegen; RMNH Coel. 41439, RAJ.12, Indonesia, Raja Ampat Islands, W Papua, east Kri, Sorido Wall, 00°33.220'S, 130°41.282'E, 22 November 2007, depth 30 m, coll. L.P. van Ofwegen; RMNH Coel. 41440, BUN.08, Indonesia, north Sulawesi, Bunaken Park, south Manado Tua Island, vertical wall in front of church, 1°37.000'N 124°41.500'E, SCUBA diving 15 m, 7 May 1998, coll. B.W. Hoeksema and L.P. van Ofwegen; RMNH Coel. 41441, BER.15, Indonesia, northeast Kalimantan, Berau Islands, Panjang Island, west side, 2°19.285'N 118°13.425'E, SCUBA diving, 9 October 2003, depth 20 m, coll. L.P. van Ofwegen and M. Slierings; RMNH Coel. 41442, Bali Lombok Strait Exp. 2001, NNM-LIPI-WWF, BAL.12, Indonesia, Bali, east side Nusa Dua, off Club Med Hotel, north of channel, 8°47.100'S, 115°13.950'E; slowly declining reef slope, sandy base; SCUBA diving to 20 m depth; 4 April 2001, coll. L.P. van Ofwegen and M. Slierings.

Diagnosis.

Top of the calyces with some rods, 0.10-0.15 mm long (Figure 20A). Cortex with straight and bent spindles with simple or complex tubercles arranged in rows (Figure 20B). Cortex sclerites up to 1 mm long. Interior additionally has branched bodies with simple or complex tubercles (Figure 20C), some fused into small clumps. These sclerites slightly shorter, up to 0.70 mm long. All sclerites magenta.

Remarks.

Gohar (1940: 20) synonymized Pachyclavularia erecta with Pachyclavularia violacea . The type of Briareum violaceum is stored in Paris. It was not re-examined by us.

Morphological variation.

RMNH Coel. 41435 (Figure 19B) showed sclerites with very small and simple tubercles (Figure 21).

RMNH Coel. 41434 (Figure 19C) and RMNH Coel. 41436 (Figure 19D) have unusually small spindles (Figs 22-23) approaching those found in Briareum stechei . This is probably due to the very short calyces in these specimens (Figs 19 C–D).

Several specimens, RMNH Coel. 41441 (Figure 19E); RMNH Coel. 41439, RMNH Coel. 41437 (Figure 19F), RMNH Coel. 41438, and RMNH Coel. 41440 showed shorter more slender spindles, but with prominent tuberculation (Figs 24-25). RMNH Coel. 41441 (Figure 19E) has widely spaced big calyces; RMNH Coel. 41437 looks more like the type specimen. (Figure 19F). As all sclerites are magenta we provisionally include them in Briareum violaceum .

Distribution.

Vanuatu, Japan (Ryukyu Archipelago, Bonin Islands), Taiwan, Coral Triangle, Australia (Great Barrier Reef).