Phacelocyathus flos ( Pourtalès, 1878 )

Reyes, Javier, Santodomingo, Nadiezhda & Cairns, Stephen, 2009, Caryophylliidae (Scleractinia) from the Colombian Caribbean, Zootaxa 2262 (1), pp. 1-39 : 25

Phacelocyathus flos ( Pourtalès, 1878)

Figs. 4J–K

Paracyathus flos Pourtalès, 1878: 201 . Phacelocyathus flos Cairns, 1979: 144–146 , pl. 27, figs. 1–4, Map 41 (synonymy and description).— Cairns et al., 1991:

47 (listed).—Humann, 1993: 174–175, colour fig.— Cairns et al., 1994: 4 (listed).— Kitahara, 2007: 502–503, fig.

4F. — Santodomingo et al., 2007: 286 (listed). Caryophyllia flos Castañares & Soto, 1982 : Table 2 (listed).

Remarks: Colombian specimens show the typical triangular paliform lobes characteristic of this species. Our samples have a corallum entirely white, belonging to the minority group according to Cairns (2000), who described a white colour for only 25% of the examined specimens.

Distribution: Tropical western Atlantic, from Bahamas to Recife Brazil; 20–560 m depth ( Cairns 1979), but most part of the records were above 200 m. In Colombia, it was found off San Bernardo Islands, from 150 to 180 m depth, mainly associated to deep-sea coralline formations ( Santodomingo et al. 2007).

Material: USNM 61932 , O-4832; INV CNI2521 , 1 specimen , D12; INV CNI2940 , 1 specimen , C2.

Figures

FIGURE 4. A, Lophelia pertusa, INV CNI396, off La Guajira (Honda Bay), colony fragments, x 1; B–C, Oxysmilia rotundifolia, INV CNI687, off San Bernardo Islands, calicular and lateral views, both x 1.1; D–E, Colangia immersa, INV CNI683, off La Guajira (Punta Gallinas), calicular and lateral views, both x 3; F–G, Phyllangia americana americana, INV CNI274, off La Guajira (Caricari Point), colony from calicular and oblique views, both x 2; H–I, Rhizosmilia maculata, INV CNI178, off Santa Marta, calicular and lateral views, both x 3.6; J–K, Phacelocyathus flos, INV CNI2940, off San Bernardo Islands, calicular and lateral views, both x 3.6; L–M, Anomocora fecunda INV CNI2897 off San Bernardo Islands, calicular and lateral views, x 3.2, x 1, respectively; N–O, Anomocora prolifera, INV CNI2725, off San Bernardo Islands, calicular view showing rejuvenescence stage and lateral view, both x 4.4; P–Q, Anomocora marchadi, INV CNI2303, off La Guajira, calicular and lateral views, both x 3.6; R, Coenosmilia arbuscula, INV CNI855, off San Bernardo Islands, branching pattern, x 1.5; S–T, Heterocyathus antoniae, paratype, INV CNI2076, off Manaure, calicular and lateral views, both x 4.5; U–W, Heterocyathus antoniae, INV CNI740, holotype, off Santa Marta (Neguanje Bay): U, basal view showing sipunculid holes, V, calicular view, and W, lateral view, all x 4.5. Scale bars for A–C, M, R = 1 cm; D–L, N–Q, S–W = 5 mm.