Leptogorgia euryale ( Bayer, 1952 )

Devictor, Susan T. & Morton, Steve L., 2010, Identification guide to the shallow water (0 - 200 m) octocorals of the South Atlantic Bight 2599, Zootaxa 2599 (1), pp. 1-62 : 45-46

Leptogorgia euryale ( Bayer, 1952)

( Figure 41 )

Eugorgia euryale Bayer, 1952:186 ; Fig. 1 o-s.

? Xiphigorgia setacea Kükenthal, 1916:502 ; Figs. Z, A'; Plate 23 fig. 6.

Leptogorgia euryale .— Bayer 1961:222; Fig. 69 f–i.— Cairns et al. 2002:35.

Material examined. SERTC S 425, 41 m, off St. Helena Island, South Carolina , June 2, 2004 . SERTC S2716 , 15.6 m, off Charleston , South Carolina, April 22, 1977 . SERTC S 2717, 91 m, off Charleston , South Carolina, April 2, 1977 . SERTC S2718 , 37.5 m, off Charleston Harbor , South Carolina, October 26, 1974 .

Remarks. This work represents the first record of this species in the SAB. This species is unbranched and very slender (1–2 mm) in comparison to other Leptogorgia species in the SAB. The prominent, conical polyp mounds are biserial along the sides of the branch, sometimes alternating, with the apertures separated by approximately 3 mm. The preserved colonies examined for this work are pale orange or pale pink with dark pink polyp mounds with yellow apertures. A band of dark pink tissue, giving the appearance of a pink lateral stripe, connects the polyp mounds. The inner coenenchyme immediately adjacent to the axis is dark pink. The coenenchyme contains elongate (up to 0.15 mm) warty spindles, asymmetrical disk spindles, and flat, serrate anthocodial rods that approach the length of the longest spindles. It appears as though this species may exist unattached as some specimens have growing tips on both ends. One fragment examined had a very small branchlet on which the polyps were separated by 5 mm or more.

Atlantic distribution: South Carolina, Gulf of Mexico (Florida), 15–91 m ( Bayer, 1952, 1961; NMNH collections; SERTC collection).

Figures

FIGURE 1. The South Atlantic Bight, which includes coastal waters between Cape Hatteras and Cape Canaveral, USA. The 200 m isobath is shown.

FIGURE 41. Leptogorgia euryale: A, sclerites (S425); a–c) disc spindles from coenenchyme; d–f) capstans from coenenchyme; g, h) large spindles from coenenchyme; i, j) flat rods from anthocodia (scale bar for a–f, i, j = 0.02 mm; g, h = 0.05 mm); B, preserved specimen, showing distribution of polyps; (scale bar = 1 mm).