Scolymia cubensis ( Milne Edwards & Haime, 1849 )

Neves, Elizabeth, Johnsson, Rodrigo, Sampaio, Claudio & Pichon, Michel, 2006, The occurrence of Scolymia cubensis in Brazil: revising the problem of the Caribbean solitary mussids, Zootaxa 1366, pp. 45-54 : 49

2. Scolymia cubensis ( Milne Edwards & Haime, 1849)

Material examined: USNM 47644 (Carrie Bow Cay, Belize), UFBA 487-CNI (Recife do Guageru, Sergipe State, Brazil)

Diagnosis: Wells (1971): 960–963, figs. 1,3,5,7

Distribution: Curaçao, Bonaire, Jamaica, Cuba, Bahamas, South Florida. In Brazil: Sergipe State.

In: Lang (1971), Wells (1971), Humann (1993), Zlatarski and Estalella (1982, as S. lacera lacera forma cubensis )

Holotype: Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris (lost, no number)

Description: Solitary attached corallum varying from flat to slightly convex forms; sharp awl-shaped dentition (septal teeth numerous, regularly distributed), primary and secondary septa thickned with inner ends often porous; diameter in adult individuals around 7–10 cm (maximum of about 12 cm); parathecal walls, costae coarsely spined, septa lateral spines finer, longer and more scattered (visible to the naked eye), spongy columella usually rounded.

Remarks: According to Lang (1971) where S. cubensis and S. lacera co-occur, the former are commonly 5 to 15 times as abundant as the latter.