Verrucella Milne-Edwards and Haime, 1857

Williams, Gary C., 2018, Illustrated Key and Synopses of Shallow-water Gorgonians and Pennatulaceans of the Central Philippines, Part 2 (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Octocorallia), Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 64 (13), pp. 361-398 : 368

Genus Verrucella Milne-Edwards and Haime, 1857

Verrucella spp.

Figures 22B, 22C , 24

MATERIAL EXAMINED.— CASIZG 197809; Philippines, Batangas Province, Caban Island (13.69°N 120.84°E); 40 m depth; 16 December 2013; coll. Sonia Rowley; one partial colony wet-preserved in 95% ethanol. CASIZG 197824; Philippines, Batangas Province, Caban Island (13.69°N 120.84°E); 27 m depth; 16 December 2013; coll. Sonia Rowley; one partial colony wet-preserved in 95% ethanol.

REMARKS.— The genus Verrucella is related to Heliania , but does not have any club-shaped sclerites. The sclerites in Verrucella are double heads (dumbbell-shaped) with a smooth narrow middle or waist. Spindles are also present. Both the double heads and spindles have oval-shaped tubercles with many acute triangular teeth. Verrucella has relatively short side branches, which are often more-or-less perpendicular to the main branches. The contracted polyps form low rounded mounds on the branches and are more sparsely distributed — not as highly congested as in Heliania .

SPECIES.— There are twenty six described species in the genus.

OCCURRENCE AND DISTRIBUTION.–Several species of Verrucella may be present in the central Philippines, occasionally encountered at mesophotic depths (usually below 30 m). The genus has a wide-ranging Indo-Pacific distribution.

REFERENCES.— Fabricius and Alderslade (2001); Grasshoff (1999); Grasshoff (2000); Grasshoff and Bargibant (2001).

Figures

FIGURE 22. Heliania spinescens and Verrucella spp. A. Heliania spinescens, whole colony (CASIZG 222404), scale bar = 30 mm. B. Verrucella sp. 1, partial colony (CASIZG 197824), scale bar = 35 mm. C. Verrucella sp. 2, partial colony (CASIZG 197809), scale bar = 20 mm.

FIGURE 24. Verrucella spp. A. Scanning electron micrographs of internal axis and sclerites (CAS 197809). Scale bar for sclerites = 0.02 mm. Upper left, a portion of bare axis from a terminal branch with a lateral branch broken off near its base, scale bar = 0.5 mm. B. Scanning electron micrographs of sclerites (CAS 197824), scale bar = 0.02 mm. Lower right, Detail of a single multi-toothed tubercle from the sclerite on the adjacent left, scale bar = 0.002 mm.