Cladangia exusta Lütken, 1873

Cairns, S. D., 2004, The Azooxanthellate Scleractinia (Coelenterata: Anthozoa) of Australia, Records of the Australian Museum 56, pp. 259-329 : 273

Cladangia exusta Lütken, 1873

Figs. 3C,F

Cladangia exusta Lütken, 1873: 65–68 , 5 figs.; 1874: 29–30.– Pillai, 1969: 410–411, pl. 1 (redescription).

New records. QUEENSLAND: 27°25'S 153°20'E ( Moreton Bay ), depth and date unknown, 1 colony, AM G7005 ; Thursday Island , depth and date unknown, 1 colony, BM 1892.12 .1.637.

Types. The deposition of the types is unknown. Type Locality: “Indian Ocean”, depth unknown.

Diagnosis of colony from Moreton Bay. Colony plocoid, consisting of 15–17 corallites joined by a common basal coenosteum. Corallites closely spaced (adjacent to 1.2 mm apart), circular, cylindrical, and low (up to 1.7 mm), the largest corallite only 4.1 mm in CD. Costae granular; corallum white.

Septa hexamerally arranged in 4 incomplete cycles, the largest corallite having 36 septa, or 1 pair of S 4 in each system. S1 independent, bearing 1–3 discrete, rounded paliform lobes on their axial edges. S2 smaller, also bearing 2–3 rounded lobes. Axial edges of S3 loosely fuse to adjacent S2; axial edges of S4 fuse to adjacent S3. Columella papillose.

Remarks. Previously known only from the Indian Ocean, these are the first reports for the Australian coast. No previous or current records include a depth indication, although it is assumed to occur in relatively shallow water. Cladangia is quite similar to Astrangia , differing in having rather low lying corallites that are firmly immersed in the basal coenosteum. Cladangia exusta clearly differs from the twoAustralian Astrangia in having a white corallum and larger, rounded, more discrete paliform lobes of the S1–3.