Stichodactyla mertensii f. sp. 1 var. sp. 1 Brandt, 1835

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

Stichodactyla mertensii f. sp. 1 var. sp. 1 Brandt, 1835

Materials

Type status: Other material. Taxon: scientificName: Stichodactyla mertensii; kingdom: Animalia; phylum: Cnidaria; class: Anthozoa; order: Actiniaria; family: Stichodactylidae; genus: Stichodactyla; scientificNameAuthorship: Brandt, 1835; Location: waterBody: Indian Ocean; country: Seychelles; locality: Aldabra W 1, Poivre E 1 ; minimumDepthInMeters: 32.4 m; maximumDepthInMeters: 35.4 m; locationRemarks: First Descent : Seychelles Expedition ; Identification : identifiedBy: Nico Fassbender , 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

Meandering oral disc; surface covered in small tentacles (~ 1-2 cm), sometimes longer (~ 5 cm). Dark brown colouration with whitish stripes throughout the colony. Hosts several species of anemonefish, associated with Amphiprion clarkii or Amphiprion fuscocaudatus (see Fig. 16 ) in Seychelles waters.

Figures

Figure 16. Stichodactyla mertensii. Poivre E 1, 30 m.