Sarcophyton sp. indet.

Fassbender, Nico, Stefanoudis, Paris V, Filander, Zoleka Nontlantla, Gendron, Gilberte, Mah, Christopher L, Mattio, Lydiane, Mortimer, Jeanne A, Moura, Carlos J, Samaai, Toufiek, Samimi-Namin, Kaveh, Wagner, Daniel, Walton, Rowana & Woodall, Lucy C, 2021, Reef benthos of Seychelles - A field guide, Biodiversity Data Journal 9, pp. 65970-65970 : 65970

Sarcophyton sp. indet.

Materials

Type status: Other material. Taxon: scientificName: Sarcophyton; kingdom: Animalia; phylum: Cnidaria; class: Anthozoa; order: Alcyonacea; family: Alcyoniidae; genus: Sarcophyton; scientificNameAuthorship: Lesson, 1834; Location: waterBody: Indian Ocean; country: Seychelles; locality: Aldabra N 1, Aldabra W 1, D'Arros N 1, Desroches S 1, Poivre E 1 ; minimumDepthInMeters: 8.8 m; maximumDepthInMeters: 36.3 m; locationRemarks: First Descent : Seychelles Expedition ; Identification : identifiedBy: Nico Fassbender , Kaveh Samimi-Namin , Paris Stefanoudis ; dateIdentified: 2019, 2020; identificationRemarks: identified only from imagery; Event : samplingProtocol: Submersible OR Remotely Operated Vehicle OR SCUBA; Record Level: basisOfRecord: Human observation

Notes

Colonies are lobate with conspicuous bare stalks merging into a wide, fleshy, disc-like head (polypary). The polypary is concave at the centre and wavy around the edges, giving it a mushroom appearance (especially in juveniles). Polyps are only found on top of the polypary. Colouration shades of brown, beige, yellow or green. Polyps are generally of the same colour as the colonies, but can be yellow or white in brown individuals. In downward facing videos typical for benthic surveys, the stalk will not always be visible. Maximum recorded size: 20 cm across. Similar species include Lobophytum , lacking the prominent stalk and the folds around the periphery (Fig. 30).