Plesiastrea, Milne Edwards and Haime, 1848

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 : 9-10

Plesiastrea versipora ( Lamarck, 1816)

( Fig. 9 )

Synonym: Astraea versipora Lamarck, 1816; Plesiastrea urvillei Milne Edwards & Haime, 1849; Plesiastrea quatrefagiana Milne Edwards & Haime, 1849; Milne Edwards & Haime (as P. quatrefaeesana) (1857); Brüggemann (1879); Plesiastrea peroni Milne Edwards & Haime, 1857; Favia versipora Lamarck 1816; Plesiastrea proximans Dennant, 1904; Orbicella gravien Vaughan, 1918; Favia ingolfi Crossland, 1931.

Material examined: Sirri Island ( ZUTC 6592).

Description: Color is light brown. Colony is encrusting and irregular in shape. Corallites formation by extratentacular budding. Corallites are close to each other, arrangement is plocoid and outline circular to subcircular (diameter 3-4 mm). Septa are in two orders; first order reach columella, secondary order is shorter (S1 and S2:12-13) but rarely in some large corallites S1 and S2:19- 25. Primary septa markedly exert with margins dentations. Septal side granulated. Pali structures well developed. Wall is distinct and comparatively thin. Coenosteum is smooth and occasionally with a few granulated ridges. Columella is small and papillose (trabecular).

Remarks: This specimen showed some morphological affinities with Astrea devantieri Veron, 2000. However, P. versipora and A. devantieri are genetically distinct ( Benzoni et al. 2011).

Distribution: Not common in the Persian Gulf. Widespread in the Red Sea and Indo-Pacific.

Figures

Fig. 9. (a-b) Plesiastrea versipora from Sirri Islands; (c-d) close-up of corallites and extratentacular budding; (e) exsert septa and well developed pali; (f) SEM image of corallites. Scale bar = 1 mm. © 2018 Academia Sinica, Taiwan