Thalamophyllia riisei ( Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1860 )

Reyes, Javier, Santodomingo, Nadiezhda & Cairns, Stephen, 2009, Caryophylliidae (Scleractinia) from the Colombian Caribbean, Zootaxa 2262 (1), pp. 1-39 : 20-21

Thalamophyllia riisei ( Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1860)

Fig. 3S

Desmophyllum riisei Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1860: 61 , pl. 9, fig. 5.

Thalamophyllia riisei Duchassaing, 1870: 28 .— Cairns, 1979: 121–123, Map 33 (description and synonymy; but not G- 103, = L. prolifera ).— Wood, 1983: 63, 120 (colour fig.).— Hubbard & Wells, 1986: 136–138, figs. 27–28.— Viada & Cairns, 1987: 132.— Messing, 1987: 12, fig 2.—Humann, 1993: 160–161, colour fig.— Fenner, 1993a: 14 (listed).— Cairns et al., 1994: 9.— Reyes et al., 2005: 325 (listed).— Santodomingo et al., 2007: 286 (listed).

Desmophyllum riisei Colin, 1978: 289 (colour fig.), 290–291.— Castañares & Soto, 1982: Table 1 (listed).

Desmophyllum striatum Cairns, 1979: 121 (in part).

Remarks: Colombian specimens are similar to those described by Hubbard & Wells (1986), in which corallites bud from the theca of the parental corallites, but our specimens do not exhibit more than three generations. Budding corallites were straight or slightly bent from the principal axis of the parental corallite, being always attached to the respective parental corallite through a thin, curved and cylindrical base, PD:GCD ratio about 1:3 to 1:4. Distal buds have their bases bent 90º. The budding corallites usually grow from the base of the parent coralla. The calices are flared and the C1-2 project up to 2/3 the septal length from the calicular edge. No specimens were found attached to hard substrate and no traces of settlement scars were observed. Stoloniferous coralla are the typical growth pattern of the Colombian samples, suggesting that T. riisei could settle on soft substrata with the basal section buried into the sediments. T. riisei and other corals such as Anomocora prolifera , Coenosmilia arbuscula and Madracis myriaster , were abundant in the azooxanthellate coral communities off San Bernardo Islands ( Reyes et al. 2005, Santodomingo et al. 2007).

Distribution: Tropical western Atlantic, mainly Antillean distribution, from Bahamas and Florida to Trinidad; 4–914 m depth ( Cairns 2000). This record extends its distribution to the Caribbean coast of Colombia, around Rosario and San Bernardo Archipelago, between 22 and 265 m depth. T. riisei was reported as suspected in the Colombian Caribbean by Reyes (2000), due to their closely distribution around San Andres Islands, but specimens reported here are the first documented record of this species for the Caribbean coast of Colombia.

Material: INV CNI 675, 5 colony fragments, E155; INV CNI 676, 148 colony fragments, E155; INV CNI 677, 9 colony fragments, E155; INV CNI 678, 1 colony fragment, E158; INV CNI 679, 47 colony fragments, E156; INV CNI 2390, +10 colony fragments, D34; INV CNI 2403, 1 colony fragment, C1; INV CNI 2411, 1 colony fragment, C4; INV CNI 2428, 8 colony fragments, E246; INV CNI 2464, +1 colony fragments, E246; INV CNI 2519, 19 colony fragments, D12; INV CNI 2547, +20 colony fragments, D35; INV CNI 2552, +50 colony fragments, D35; INV CNI 2562, +50 colony fragments, D15; INV CNI 2702, 1 colony fragment, D11; INV CNI 2705, 1 colony fragment, D13; INV CNI 2729, 18 colony fragments, D38; INV

CNI 2746, 3 colony fragments, D46; INV CNI 2772, 1 colony fragment, D21; INV CNI 2782, 1 colony fragment, D33; INV CNI 2804, +20 colony fragments, D22; INV CNI 2814, 3 colony fragments, D69; INV CNI 2837, 2 colony fragments, D15; INV CNI 2872, +50 colony fragments, D36; INV CNI 2881, 1 colony fragment, D76; INV CNI 2889, 11 colony fragments, D76; INV CNI 2901, 15 colony fragments, C2; INV CNI 2902, 39 colony fragments, C3; INV CNI 2944, +10 colony fragments, C2.

Figures

FIGURE 3. A, Cladocora arbuscula, INV CNI215, off Santa Marta (Cinto Bay), colony, x 1.5; B, Polycyathus mayae, INV CNI797, off San Bernardo Islands, oblique lateral view, x 10; C–D, Deltocyathus calcar, D17 MARCORAL, off San Bernardo Islands, calicular and basal views, both x 4.4; E–F, Deltocyathus sp. cf. D. italicus, INV CNI711, off Cartagena, lateral and calicular views, both x 3; G–H, Deltocyathus eccentricus, INV CNI721, off San Bernardo Islands, calicular and lateral views, both x 4.2; I–J, Stephanocyathus (S.) diadema, INV CNI329, off Gulf of Uraba, calicular and basal views, both x 0.7; K–L, Stephanocyathus (S.) paliferus, INV CNI388, off Barranquilla, calicular and basal views, both x 1; M–N, Stephanocyathus (O.) coronatus INV CNI324, Venezuela, Cariaco Basin, calicular and lateral views, both x 1; O–P, Stephanocyathus (S.) isabellae INV CNI694, holotype, off San Bernardo Islands, calicular and basal views, both x 2.6; Q–R, Stephanocyathus (S.) isabellae, INV CNI2076, paratype, off San Bernardo Islands, calicular and basal views, both x 2.7; S, Thalamophyllia riisei, INV CNI676, off San Bernardo Islands, branching pattern, x 1.4; T, Eusmilia fastigiata; colony from calicular view, x 0.9. Scale bars for A, I–T = 1 cm; C–H = 5 mm; B = 1 mm.