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 : 18-20

Dipsastraea pallida (Dana, 1846)

( Fig. 17 )

Synonym: Astraea (Fissicella) denticulata Dana, 1846; Astraea cellulosa Verrill, 1872; Astraea denticulata Dana, 1846; Astraea doreyensis ( Milne Edwards & Haime, 1857); Astraea ordinata Verrill, 1866; Favia amplior ( Milne Edwards & Haime, 1849); Favia denticulata ( Gardiner, 1904); Favia doreyensis Milne Edwards & Haime, 1850; Favia laccadivica Gardiner, 1904; Favia okeni Milne Edwards & Haime, 1857; Favia pallida (Dana, 1846); Favia tubulifera Klunzinger, 1879; Goniastraea serrata Ortmann, 1889; Heliastrea borradailei Gardiner, 1904; Parastrea amplior Milne Edwards & Haime, 1850; Parastrea verrilleana Milne Edwards & Haime, 1850.

Material examined: Abu-Musa Island ( ZUTC 6610), Sirri Island ( ZUTC 6611).

Other Material: Nay-Band Bay ( ZUTC 6612), Kish Island ( ZUTC 6613).

Description: Colony is massive and hemispherical. Corallites arrangement is plocoid to subplocoid, even sub ceroid in parts of the colony. Corallites formation by intratentacular budding. Corallite and calice diameter are 8-10 mm and 8-9 mm, respectively. 22-28 septa in two orders (sometimes indistinguishable). Septa are well separated and exert above the wall margin. Most septa descend abruptly down the endotheca and then reach the columella. Septal margins always ornamented with very short and irregular dentations. These dentations are themselves finely serrated, especially at their tips which frequently form minute horizontal fans. Palar structures absent (occasionally may be weakly present). Columella is spongy. Costae equal and sometimes adjacent costae join together.

Remarks: The specimens showed different colony forms and colors in the field; however, their skeletal features were similar ( Fig. 17a , c-d). D. pallida had a smaller corallite size than the other species and a slightly lower calic ( Kongjandtre et al. 2012). Pale discoloration is because of presence mucus sheathing ( Fig. 17 a-c) ( Alidoost Salimi et al. 2017).

Distribution: Widespread in the Persian Gulf, Red Sea and Indo-Pacific.

Figures

Fig. 17. (a-c-e) Different colonies of Dipsastraea pallida from Abu-Musa and Sirri Islands; (b-d-f) close-up of their corallites. Scale bar = 1 mm. © 2018 Academia Sinica, Taiwan