Isopora togianensis (Wallace, 1997)

Wallace, Carden C., Done, Barbara J. & Muir, Paul R., 2012, Revision and catalogue of worldwide staghorn corals Acropora and Isopora (Scleractinia: Acroporidae) in the Museum of Tropical Queensland, Memoirs of the Queensland Museu Nature 57, pp. 1-258 : 248

Isopora togianensis (Wallace, 1997)

( Fig. 122 )

Acropora togianensis Wallace, 1997: 43 , fig. 13.

? Acropora cylindrica Veron & Fenner in Veron, 200 0, vol. 1: 293; 2002: 40–41 , figs 69–72.

Type locality. Pulau Talatakoh, Togian Islands, Sulawesi, Indonesia.

MTQ Holdings. HOLOTYPE, G48823; PARATYPES, G48821–22, G48824–26 Sulawesi, Indonesia; G55819, HOLOTYPE of Acropora cylindrica, Papua New Guinea; Indonesia: G55462–68, G55470–76, G59103, G59104, Sulawesi; G32837, Java.

Description. Colony outline: indeterminate, predominantly arborescent. Branches: tertiary branching order absent; length:>10 0 mm; diameter:>19.9 mm, 50/50 axial/radial, terete; radial crowding: not touching; axial/radial ratio:>1:10. Axial corallites: greater than three synapticular rings; no walls; outer diameter 5.8–9.1 mm; inner diameter 0.8–1.2 mm; primary septa to 2/3 R. Radial corallites: small; two synapticular rings; one size or graded; inner wall not developed; shape: immersed; openings: oval-rounded; primary septa to ¼ R. Coenosteum: different on and between radials: between radials: reticulate, on radials: costate; spinule shape: elaborate papillae.

Taxonomic note. Acropora cylindrica is a member of Isopora and is likely to be a synonym of I. togianensis . The holotype of A. cylindrica G55819, illustrated by Veron (2002: 41), has relatively short and slender branches and, as noted in Veron (2002), does not have the ‘ Montipora -like tuberculae’ described for I. togianensis . In this it compares with smaller specimens in MTQ holdings of I. togianensis from the type locality. For example, G55462, a juvenile 5 5 mm high, has no tuberculae; G59104, 140 mm long, has tuberculae only around its base; additionally, branch tips (to at least 30 mm) in most specimens of I. togianensis are free of tuberculae. At present, there are no other specimens of I. cylindrica from which to verify the synonymy.

Further literature: Wallace (1999), Veron (2000), Pillay et al. (2002), Chan et al. (2004), Nomura & Mezaki (2005), Dai & Horng (2009), Wallace et al. 2010, Turak & DeVantier (2011).

Figures

FIG. 122. Isopora togianensis, Togian Islands, Indonesia, 1999 (photo: B. Hoeksema). Map of documented distribution: blue squares = MTQ specimens; pink squares = literature records; orange diamonds = type localities (where given), including primary synonyms.