Anthothela pacifica ( Kuekenthal , 1913)

Horvath, Elizabeth Anne, 2019, A review of gorgonian coral species (Cnidaria, Octocorallia, Alcyonacea) held in the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History research collection: focus on species from Scleraxonia, Holaxonia, and Calcaxonia - Part I: Introduction, species of Scleraxonia and Holaxonia (Family Acanthogorgiidae), ZooKeys 860, pp. 1-66 : 1

Anthothela pacifica ( Kuekenthal, 1913) Figures 1A, B, 2

Anthothela pacifica ( Kükenthal, 1913a): 237-239; text figs E–G. Bayer 1961: 336. Moore et al. 2017: 34-40.

(?) Clavularia pacifica Nutting, 1909: 686. Kükenthal 1913a: 237-239. Hickson 1915: 548.

(?) Sympodium armatum Wright & Studer, 1889: 272. Nutting 1909: 686.

(?) Anthothela argentea Studer, 1894: 60. Kükenthal 1919: 45; 1924: 16. (No longer valid; see WoRMS Data Base, Cordeiro et al. 2018a, Anthothela )

Type locality.

USA, California, China Point, (?) San Clemente Island, SW tip, 50 fm (91 m).

Type specimen.

Location of type unknown.

Material examined.

One specimen in SBMNH collection was identified as this species (see Appendix 1: List of material examined).

Description.

Colony (Figure 1A) of thin, flattened branches, crooked, tortuous, somewhat anastomosed; no large main stem development. Rather low-lying, prostrate form; height 0.5 mm-7.0 mm; “stolon” thin, membranous; arrangement of medulla and “cortex” as described for family. Calyces (Figure 1B) prominent, projecting cylinders up to 2.5-3.0 mm tall; polyps stout, with highly retractile portion up to 2.5 mm in length; total calyx/polyp size 5.0 mm tall by 2.0 mm wide. Calyces monomorphic, with eight deep, longitudinal grooves, delineating eight ridges or ribs with sharp edges. Distal part of polyp usually exsert, bearing eight double-rows of spindles. Polyps large, rather widely spaced. Color of living colony described as light yellow or straw-colored to grayish white; in alcohol, creamy white. Sclerites (Figure 2) of coenenchyme large, elongate, thin, pointed spindles, often with prominent projections on edges; generally, fusiform (0.25-0.3 mm long), not capstans; often appearing bent. Older descriptions indicate that sometimes these are strongly clavate at terminal end, appearing as clubbed spindles; this condition not seen in material examined. Anthocodial armature strong spindles, often clavate or bent, only rarely as radiate bodies and capstans. Spindles at base of tentacles (collaret), 0.18 mm long, those of calyx 0.22 mm long, none of these club-shaped. Sclerites widely spaced, showing transverse disposition at base of tentacles; sclerites of medulla strong thorny spindles. Colony surface rough to the touch due to projecting sclerites.

Etymology.

Presumably named for type locality, northern Pacific Ocean.

Common Name.

Dwarf white gorgonian.

Distribution.

Not definitively known at this time for coastal western United States; potentially from southern California: USA, California, San Diego, Point Loma, 200 m ( Nutting 1909) and China Point, (?) San Clemente Island, SW tip, 91 m, to at least northern California, Monterey Bay, 900 m ( Nutting 1909); possibly as far north as southern British Columbia, Canada ( Lamb and Hanby 2005).

Biology.

According to Kozloff (1987), a shallow subtidal form. Lamb and Hanby (2005) state it as "subtidal, below 40 m (133 ft)."

Remarks.

Kükenthal (1913a) indicated species is not equal to Sympodium armatum Wright and Studer as cited in Nutting (1909). However, an interesting aspect presented itself through an unexpected source. A letter, found in SBMNH archives, dated 1978, from Dr Frederick Bayer to Dr Eric Hochberg, indicated the suggestion of a possible synonymy between Anthothela argentea Studer, 1894 and Anthothela pacifica . In that letter Dr Bayer made two significant statements, the first being that the two lots reported and identified (and misidentified) by Nutting (1909: 686) as " Sympodium armatum Wright & Studer, 1889," subsequently identified by Kükenthal (1913) as Clavularia pacifica , are in actuality gorgonians of the genus Anthothela . Bayer (1961) made mention of this in relation to the Atlantic Ocean species Anthothela tropicalis Bayer, 1961. Secondly (key point of the letter), Bayer believed that it was "possible that ' Clavularia ' pacifica is identical with Anthothela argentea Studer, in which case Studer’s name takes precedence." Further reading in Bayer (1961) showed that there was indeed a genus name change. Bayer, discussing family Anthothelidae , genus Anthothela , made the following statement: "A distinctly different species has now been recorded from the Gulf of Mexico, also in deep water, which proves to be a new species closely related to the eastern Pacific Anthothela pacifica ( Kükenthal), forming with it an eastern Pacific-western Atlantic twin-pair of species." Note the change in genus name (from Clavularia to Anthothela ). Regarding the distributional range for A. argentea , location records noted on distribution maps posted on the Encyclopedia Of Life website showed it occurring throughout the southeastern Pacific Ocean, extending into the northeastern Pacific, to at least central California (USA; USNM 94428 was collected in proximity of the western edge of the Bight). This indicated a possible geographic overlap with (or the possibility that it was synonymous with) A. pacifica . However, the work of Moore et al. (2017) puts the suggested synonymy of Bayer in question, having reassigned Anthothela argentea to the genus Victorgorgia López-González & Briand, 2002 and the new family Victorgorgiidae , as they indicated that there are clear morphological and genetic differences from the genus Anthothela .

From the World List of Octocorallia, the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS), Anthothela pacifica is an accepted scientific name, while Anthothela argentea has been accepted as Victorgorgia argentea , and from that listing it is clear that these two are considered separate species ( Cordeiro et al. 2018a).

Identification of specimen relied on notes made by Dr Hochberg, with a description given by Kükenthal; fragility of specimen did not permit an extensive examination, but as far as it could be done, one was done with the specimen to hand.

Hickson (1915) lamented: the "widely distributed and very variable genus Clavularia is badly in need of revision. It is probable that such a revision would lead to a considerable reduction in the numbers of species, many of which have been founded on very in-adequate characters." He went on to say that the genus Clavularia is well represented in the North Pacific Ocean; how many other species belong in the genus Clavularia , and how many may be members of the genus Anthothela , or some other genus, remains to be seen. Bayer (1961:70) affirmed that Nutting’s and Kükenthal’s specimens are gorgonians of the genus Anthothela . Hochberg (1979) stated, "comparison with the type is needed to identify what has been called Clavularia pacifica from this area in the past. The generic change (to Anthothela ) is an obscure reference, being only a few lines in Bayer’s work (1961) on Caribbean octocorals."

Location of type is at issue; someone (unknown) noted: "China Point, 'San Clemente Island (SW tip).' " There was no way to confirm this statement, and there is the added problem of a China Point on Santa Catalina Island (SW side of island), as well. There was no means to identify which "China Point" was the correct collection location.