Schizopathes affinis Brook, 1889

Horowitz, Jeremy, Opresko, Dennis M. & Bridge, Tom C. L., 2018, Black corals (Anthozoa: Antipatharia) from the deep (916 m - 2542 m) Coral Sea, north-eastern Australia, Zootaxa 4472 (2), pp. 307-326 : 318-320

Schizopathes affinis Brook, 1889

( FIgS. 1 ANd 6 )

Schizopathes affinis, Molodtsova & Opresko (2017): 360 –361 (complete synonymy).

Material examined: MTQ MATeRIAL (PReSeRVed IN eTHYL ALCOHOL): G61837, G61944, G61951, ANd G73230 (STATION dATA IN TAbLe 1).

Diagnosis: COLONY MONOPOdIAL, UNbRANCHed, PINNULATe. PINNULeS SIMPLe, ARRANged ALTeRNATeLY IN TWO LATeRAL ROWS ALONg STeM; deCReASINg IN LeNgTH TOWARd APeX Of CORALLUM ANd INCLINed dISTALLY. PINNULeS 8 MM TO 10 MM APART PROXIMALLY, 5 MM TO 6 MM APART NeAR THe TOP Of CORALLUM (APPROXIMATeLY SeVeN PINNULeS TOTAL PeR 3 CM ON LOWeR PART Of CORALLUM ANd AbOUT TeN PeR 3 CM ON UPPeR PART IN HOLOTYPe). POLYPAR SPINeS SMALL, TRIANgULAR, ANd COMPReSSed; MOSTLY 0.03 MM TO 0.05 MM TALL (UP TO 0.08 MM NeAR dISTAL eNd Of PINNULeS); fOUR TO fIVe ROWS VISIbLe IN LATeRAL VIeW; WITH AbOUT SIX SPINeS PeR 1 MM. AbPOLYPAR SPINeS USUALLY SMALLeR THAN POLYPAR SPINeS, AbOUT 0.03 MM OR AbSeNT. POLYPS 3 MM TO 4.5 MM IN TRANSVeRSe dIAMeTeR, WITH AbOUT THRee POLYPS PeR 1 CM.

Description of the CIDARIS Specimens: THe CIDARIS SPeCIMeNS Of S. affinis ARe SIMILAR TO THe TYPe IN bOTH THe deNSITY Of THe PINNULeS (INCReASINg fROM AbOUT 4.5 PINNULeS IN TOTAL PeR 3 CM ANd ~7 MM Of dISTANCe beTWeeN PINNULeS PROXIMALLY TO 8 PeR 3 CM ANd ~5 MM Of dISTANCe beTWeeN PINNULeS TOWARdS THe APeX Of THe CORALLUM) ( FIgURe 6A ), ANd THe SIze Of THe POLYPAR SPINeS (~0.06 MM) beINg LARgeR THAN AbPOLYPAR SPINeS (~0.04 MM) ( FIgURe 6b ). THe COLONY ALSO ReSeMbLeS THe TYPe SPeCIMeN bY HAVINg A dISTINCT TRIANgULAR SHAPe ANd RATIOS Of THe LONgeST ANd LOWeRMOST PINNULe COMPARed TO THe PINNULATed PORTION Of THe STeM beINg beTWeeN 1 TO 1.3, SIMILAR TO THe TYPe SPeCIMeN WITH A RATIO Of ~0.95. ( FIgURe 6A ). FOUR ROWS Of SPINeS CAN be SeeN fROM ONe ASPeCT ( FIgURe 6b ) ANd SPINeS ARe MOSTLY SIMPLe ( FIgURe 6C ), WITH TWO SPeCIMeNS SHOWINg bIfURCATION Of SOMe POLYPAR SPINeS ( FIgURe 6b ).

Distribution: THIS SPeCIeS HAS beeN RePORTed fROM THe NORTHWeSTeRN ATLANTIC, WeSTeRN PACIfIC, ANd INdIAN OCeANS, ANd SOUTH CHINA SeA, fROM dePTHS Of 1,900 M TO 8,460 M, ANd THIS STUdY eXPANdS THe dISTRIbUTION TO THe CORAL SeA, AUSTRALIA ( FIgURe 1C ) AT 1,576 M ( FIgURe 1C ), A RANge eXPANSION Of> 1,000 kM, ANd dePTH RANge eXPANSION Of 333 M.

a Type specimen a Type specimen

Figures

FIGURE 1. a, Map of collection sites for the specimens in this study and other locations globally where the same species have been collected; b, view of the Central and Eastern Indo-Pacific region; c, new black coral records from the Coral Sea.

FIGURE 6. Schizopthes affinis: a, G61837, anterolateral view of corallum showing pinnule density, triangular corallum shape, and curved hook at basal end b, G61978, spines on a pinnule shows bifucation of some polypar spines (seen on left side of image) and larger polypar spines than abpolypar spines; c, G61837, spine on a section of a pinnule.