Verrucella umbraculum ( Ellis & Solander, 1786 )

Ramvilas, Ghosh, Alderslade, Philip & Ranjeet, Kutty, 2023, The taxonomy of Indian gorgonians: an assessment of the descriptive records of gorgonians (Anthozoa: Octocorallia: Alcyonacea) recorded as occurring in the territorial waters of India, along with neighbouring regions and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and the highlighting of perceived unethical practice, Zootaxa 5236 (1), pp. 1-124 : 104-105

Verrucella umbraculum ( Ellis & Solander, 1786)

Gorgonia umbraculum Ellis & Solander, 1786: 80 , pl. 10 (Batavia).

Ctenocella (Umbracella) umbraculum (neotype designation) Bayer & Grasshoff 1994: 35–37, fig. 8&9 (Pankor Is., Malaysia) .

Opinion: There is not enough evidence to affirm this species occurs in the region.

Justification:

These Indian records seem to be either invalid or unconfirmable: Thomas & George 1986: 109–110, fig. 1s, 1–3 (SE, SW coast; Andaman Is.); Thomas & George 1990: 421–422, fig. g, 1–3; pl. 1E (off Mumbai); Thomas et al. 1995: 140–141 (NE coast); Mary & Lazarus 2004: 40–41, fig. 22&23 (SW coast);; Fernando 2011: 122, pl. 83, fig. 1–1n (SW and East coast); Sivaleela & Padmanabhan 2015: 26–27, pl. 2, fig. 10 (Erwadi); Fernando et al. 2017: 282, pl. 132, figs. 1–1n (SW and East coast).

Literature analysis: This species was originally named Gorgonia umbraculum for a specimen from Indonesia (“Batavia”). It was transferred to the genus Rhipidigorgia by Valenciennes (1855), to Umbracella by Gray (1857), to Gorgonella by Verrill (1864), and to Verrucella by Utinomi (1958), but the detailed characteristics of the original material have never been published. To stabilise the taxonomy, and using a specimen collected from Malaysia, Bayer & Grasshoff (1994) designated a neotype, which meant that all previous descriptions since that of Ellis & Solander cannot be relied upon, including the extensive synonymy given by Kükenthal (1924).

Using the old name Gorgonella umbraculum , the species was described by Thomas & George (1986 & 1990), Thomas et al. (1995), Mary & Lazarus (2004) and Sivaleela & Padmanabhan (2015), but it is not possible to tell what species they had and all sclerite dimensions in their accounts (most written prior to the neotype designation) are far too small to be Verrucella umbraculum . Thomas & George (1987) and Venkataraman et al. (2004) just listed the species, again using the old name.

The descriptions of Indian material tentatively assigned to this species by Fernando (2011) and Fernando et al. (2017) are identical, however, their sclerite figures are far too small to see much detail, and the different colony forms of their specimens indicate they must have had a mixture of species. From the available data, and allowing for some slight differences in sclerite dimensions (where they are known) it is not possible to distinguish this taxon, as treated by these authors, from the identity of the material they assigned to Verrucella dichromata Fernando, 2017 , Verrucella ixoboloides Fernando, 2011 , Verrucella diadema Grasshoff, 1999 , and Verrucella pinnata Fernando, 2011 .