Astrogorgia splendens (Thomson & Simpson, 1909) Thomson & Simpson, 1909

Breedy, Odalisca & Guzman, Hector M., 2015, A revision of the genus Muricea Lamouroux, 1821 (Anthozoa, Octocorallia) in the eastern Pacific. Part I: Eumuricea Verrill, 1869 revisited, ZooKeys 537, pp. 1-32 : 18-20

Taxon classification Animalia Alcyonacea Plexauridae

Astrogorgia splendens (Thomson & Simpson, 1909) comb. n. Figures 12, 13

Eumuricea splendens Thomson & Simpson, 1909: 258-259.

Material.

Holotype: BM 1933.05.03.094, ethanol preserved, Marble Rock, Mergui Archipelago, Myanmar, Andaman Sea. No more data available.

Description

[see also Thomson and Simpson (1909)]. The holotype is a 9.5 cm tall and 6 cm wide colony. Several stems arise from a spreading holdfast but only one branch ramifies in two secondary branches, the others are broken close to the base (Fig. 13A, B) that is partially covered by a sponge. The branching is lateral and irregular, predominantly in one plane. Secondary branches subdivide up to 7 times upwards at small angles. Free end branches reach up to 3.5 cm long. The axis is horny and of a light brown colour. The polyps are prominent and distributed longitudinally in two rows at the base of the main branches, but more irregularly and crowded at the upper parts. The calyces are prominent up to 2 mm in diameter and up to 1.5 mm high (Fig. 12B). The anthocodial sclerites are arranged in collaret and points, "en chevron" at the base of the tentacles. The anthocodiae are completely retractile and show an octoradiate star-like arrangement. The coenenchyme and calyces are composed of whitish and reddish sclerites (Fig. 12C). They are mostly warty spindles, straight, curved, and branched, mostly with acute ends, and ornamented with complex tubercles and prickles. These spindles measure 0.21-1.0 mm long and 0.046-0.16 wide (Fig. 13). The anthocodials are warty rods, 0.15-0.20 mm long and 0.03-0.06 mm wide (Fig. 12C). The colour of the colony is pale pink with reddish calyces.

Distribution.

From the type locality, Marbel Rock, Mergui Archipelago, Andaman Sea, Indian Ocean. No data available about the depth range.

Remarks.

The two species described in Eumuricea by Thomson and Simpson (1909) appear in the BM catalogue as species of the genus Muricella , ramosa and splendens . However, Fabricius and Alderslade (2001), and Grasshoff (1999) refer to the genus Muricella as being planar large fans, often net-like, and large, with thick coenenchyme. Eumuricea splendens sensu Thomson & Simpson (1909) is a small specimen 9.5 cm in height, and Eumuricea ramosa is supposedly a large specimen, both with thin coenenchyme, and without net-like colonies. The description and sizes of the sclerites given by the above authors for the genus Muricella do not fit these two species. Furthermore, Thomson and Simpson’s (1909) holotype of Eumuricea splendens does not agree with the characteristics of Eumuricea . Although Thomson and Simpson (1909), acknowledge some resemblance with Eumuricea acervata , the holotype does not have tubular calyces and does not show the characteristic unilateral spinous spindles of Eumuricea . The dominant types of sclerites are acute warty spindles and variations. Therefore, we propose to transfer this species to the genus Astrogorgia .