Muricea Lamouroux, 1821

Horvath, Elizabeth Anne, 2019, A review of gorgonian coral species (Cnidaria, Octocorallia, Alcyonacea) held in the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History research collection: focus on species from Scleraxonia, Holaxonia, Calcaxonia - Part II: Species of Holaxonia, families Gorgoniidae and Plexauridae, ZooKeys 860, pp. 67-182 : 67

Genus Muricea Lamouroux, 1821

Muricea (pars) Lamouroux, 1821: 36. (pars) Blainville 1834: 509. (pars) Ehrenberg 1834: 134. Dana 1846: 673. (pars) Milne Edwards 1857: 142. Duchassaing and Michelotti 1864: 14. (pars) Kölliker 1865: 135. (pars) Verrill 1868b: 418-419; 1868c: 411; 1869a: 449-450. Kent 1870: 84, pl 41, figs 13-17, (?) 36-37. (pars) Studer 1878- 1879: 649. Studer 1887: 58. Wright and Studer 1889: 93, 133 + pl. Gorzawsky 1908: 8. Nutting 1910a: 9. Kükenthal 1919: 752, 835; 1924: 141. (pars) Riess 1929: 383-384. Aurivillius 1931: 102-103. Deichmann 1936: 99. Bayer 1956 a: F210; 1959a: 12; 1961: 179-180. Tixier-Durivault 1969; 1970a, b, c: 154. Bayer 1981 c: 930 [in key only]; 1994: 23-24. Marques and Castro 1995: 162. Hardee and Wicksten 1996: 127-128. Castro et al. 2010: 779. Breedy and Guzmán 2015: 6-7; 2016b: 7-8.

Emuricea (pars) Verrill, 1869a: 449. Studer 1887: 58. Wright and Studer 1889: pl LVI. Nutting 1909: 718. Thomson and Simpson 1909: 258. Kükenthal 1919: 836. Reiss 1919: 397-398. Kükenthal 1924: 149-150. Thomson 1927: 48-49. Reiss 1929: 397. Aurivillius 1931: 50 (emended). Deichmann 1936: 104.

Eumuricea (Muricea) Bayer, 1981: 930 (key). Breedy and Guzman 2015: abstract, 28.

Type species.

Muricea spicifera Lamouroux, 1821, by subsequent designation Milne Edwards and Haime 1850: lxxx. Kükenthal (1924) listed Muricea muricata (Pallas, 1766) as the type. [ M. specifera was later synonymized with Muricea muricata Pallas, 1766 apud Bayer, 1961: 179-180]

Diagnosis.

Arborescent colonies richly branched (dichotomously or laterally), often in one plane. Branch diameter moderate to very thick, tendency to curve upwards, most nearly parallel to one another, tips tending to slightly swollen. Calyces shelf-like, on all sides, close-set, prickly, tubular or distinctly projecting (at right angle or upwards); stiffened by large, fusiform sclerites; aperture wide and eight-rayed; polyps fully retractile. Axis purely horny; weakly loculated (if at all). Sclerites usually fusiform, long, often massive, spindles (up to 3.0 mm in length), obviously sculptured, with strong outer or terminal spines, or both, arranged in calycular wall longitudinally; rarely some irregular forms. Anthocodial sclerites numerous, small spindles, forming at most weak, slightly differentiated transverse crown or collaret below tentacles, converging on bases of tentacles. Sclerites in genus stated as generally, markedly stockier, denser and thicker; a bit larger overall, than those seen in many other genera.

Remarks.

The genus Muricea may contain at least a dozen species specifically found in the eastern Pacific; however, species descriptions, and their potential synonymies, needed review. The work of Breedy and Guzmán (2015, 2016a, 2016b) has been of help. But, the California Bight is a complex area in the eastern Pacific, and may hold some surprises with regards to this genus. To date two, perhaps three, species are commonly recorded from the California Bight; others, however, occasionally may appear. A more extensive and thorough discussion of this genus as it appears specifically in the California Bight may be required. A further investigation is also necessitated by the fact that the number of species of Mexican Muricea , in both the SBMNH collection and other collections, is far greater than the number of species currently known to occur within the California Bight. While the review of the genus Muricea and its species by Breedy and Guzmán (2015, 2016a, 2106b) is helpful, further investigation of Muricea found in the eastern Pacific waters of California and upper Baja, Mexico is still required; specimens from the SBMNH and LACoMNH will be helpful in such investigations.