Dipsastraea, de Blainville, 1830

Salimi, Parisa Alidoost, Mostafavi, Pargol Ghavam, Chen, Chaolun Allen, Fatemi, Seyed Mohammad Reza & Pichon, Michel, 2018, Microphysogobio bicolor, Zoological Studies 57 (56), pp. 1-34 : 20-21

Dipsastraea favus ( Forskål, 1775)

( Fig. 18 )

Synonym: Madrepora favus (pars) Forskål, 1775; Madrepora cavernosa Forsskål, 1775; Madrepora denticulata Ellis & Solander, 1786; Parastrea denticulata Milne Edwards & Haime, 1849; Favia jacquinoti Milne Edwards & Haime, 1857; Favia geoffroyi Milne Edwards & Haime, 1857; Favia deformata Milne Edwards & Haime, 1857; Favia aspera Milne Edwards & Haime, 1857; Favia ehrenbergi Klunzinger, 1879; Orbicella borradailei Gardiner, 1904.

Material examined: Sirri Island ( ZUTC 6614).

Description: Colony is massive and hemispherical. Corallites are circular and arrangement is plocoid. Corallites formation by extratentacular budding. Corallite and calice diameter 9-12 mm and 7-11 mm, respectively. Septa are well separated and exert above the wall margin. 24-40 septa in 2 or 3 orders. Primary order septa reach columella, third order reduced or abortive (orders sometimes indistinctive). Septa descend steeply into the calyx immediately from the wall towards the center. Palar structures absent or weakly developed. Columella is compact. Costae equal, dentate and adjacent costae sometimes joined together. Coenosteum smooth

Remarks: The skeleton did not clearly show the more common shape of the corallites, and it should be noted that there is considerable intraspecific variability in this particular species.

Dipsastraea favus displays a larger corallite size and higher calice compared to D. pallida ( Kongjandtre et al. 2012), and this feature has been considered as a main criterion for identification. The pale mucus sheaths were peeling off, revealing the normal coloration underneath ( Alidoost Salimi et al. 2017) ( Fig. 18 ab).

Distribution: Uncommon in the Persian Gulf.

Figures

Fig. 18. (a-b) Dipsastraea favus from Sirri Island; (c-d) close-up of corallites. Scale bar = 1 mm. © 2018 Academia Sinica, Taiwan