Turbinaria sp. 1

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 : 8

Turbinaria sp. 1

( Fig. 7 )

Synonym: Explanaria Lamarck, 1816; Gemmipora de Blainville, 1830; Turbinacis Quenstedt, 1880.

Material examined: Sirri Island ( ZUTC 6590).

Description: Colony is a small plate, attached to the bottom. The plate thickness is 2-7 mm. Corallites are small but distinctly protuberant, roughly arranged in lines more or less parallel to the margin of the corallum. A line or series of corallites conspicuously present on the very edge of the corallum. Calice diameter range 1-3 mm. Septa are well developed, reaching up to 2/3 of the calice radius with mostly 12 septa in one order. Septal margins distinctly and irregularly serrated. Columella is a small peg-like trabecular rising vertically. Occasionally the calice is almost completely invaded by a large mass of twisted and anastomosed trabecular, giving the appearance of a “closed” corallite. Costae absent. Coenosteum and exotheca are reticulated and echinulated.

Remarks: Corallites are similar to those of T. reniformis. However, the growth form differs from T. reniformis that had been reported from Abu-Dhabi ( Riegl and Purkis 2012). The corallites size is smaller than that of the same species in the Yemen ( Pichon et al. 2010). Because of limited material and small colony, positive species identification is not possible.

Distribution: Rare in the Persian Gulf.

Figures

Fig. 7. (a) Turbinaria sp.1 from Sirri Islands. Scale bar = 1 cm; (b-d) close-up of corallites. Scale bar = 1 mm.