Letepsammia formosissima (Moseley, 1876)

Filander, Zoleka N., Kitahara, Marcelo V., Cairns, Stephen D., Sink, Kerry J. & Lombard, Amanda T., 2021, Azooxanthellate Scleractinia (Cnidaria, Anthozoa) from South Africa, ZooKeys 1066, pp. 1-198 : 1

Letepsammia formosissima (Moseley, 1876)

Fig. 14A, B

Stephanophyllia formosissima Moseley, 1876: 561-562. - Moseley 1877: 4. -Mosely 1881: 201-201, pl. 4, fig. 11, pl. 13, figs 6-7, pl. 16, figs 8, 9. -Vaughan 1907: 17, 23-24, 27, 28, 35, 38, 43-44, 146-147, 419, 426, pl. 44, figs 2, 2A. - Boschma 1923: 144-145, pl. 10, fig. 31. - Yabe and Eguchi 1932d: 61-63, pl. 8, figs 7, 8. -Eguchi 1934: 368. - Eguchi 1938: table 2. - Yabe and Eguchi 1942b: 107, 138, 139. -Crossland 1952: 92. - Wells 1958: 263, pl. 1, figs 1, 2. - Squires 1961:19. - Ralph and Squires 1962: 4, 16. -Uitnomi 1965: 249. - Zibrowius and Grygier 1985: 120. -Owens 1994: 586.

Stephanophyllia ( Letepsammia ) Letepsammia formosissima . - Yabe and Eguchi 1932b: 443.

Leptopenus discus . -Dennant 1906: 162.

Letepsammia formosissima . - Owens 1986b: 486-487. -Cairns 1984: 6-7. - Zibrowius and Grygier 1985: 120. - Cairns 1989b: 15-18, pl. 6, fig. J, pl. 7, figs G-I, pl. 8, figs A-D. -Cairns and Parker 1992, 8-9, pl. 1, figs F, H. - Cairns and Keller 1993: 230-231. fig. 3D. -Cairns 1994: 40-41, pl. 5, figs C, F. - Cairns and Zibrowius 1997: 73-75. - Cairns 1998: 371. -Cairns 1999: 59. - Cairns et al. 1999: 34. -Plusquellee et al. 1999: 998. -Riemann-Zurneck and Iken 2003: 383. -Cairns 2004a: 264, 271. - Cairns 2006: 47. - Cairns 2009: 2. -Janiszewska et al. 2011: 10. - Quattrini et al. 2020: 1538, fig. 2. -Seilitz et al. 2020: 6, fig. 1A-C . -Kitahara and Carins 2021: 55-56, figs 12I-L, 13.

Type locality.

Philippines and Indonesia (HMS ‘Challenger’ stns. 192 and 209: 5°49'12"S, 132°14'24"E, 10°14'00"S, 123°54'00"E, respectively); 174-236 m (Moseley 1876).

Type material.

Five syntypes are deposited at the BMNH ( Cairns 1989a).

Material examined.

DEFF_NANSEN-INV 18: Eastern margin, 20 km from Durban/ 19 km off Beachwood Mangroves, 29°52'56.39"S, 31°12'15.59"E; 224 m. SAM_H1395 (1 specimen): Eastern margin, off Umdloti River mouth; 183 m. SAM_H1426 (1 specimen): Southern margin, off Great Fish River mouth; 183 m. SAM_H1429 (7 specimens): Southern margin, 6 km from Kidds Beach/ 5 km off Ncera Estuary, 33°11'59.99"S, 27°40'59.99"E; 79 m. SAM_H1452 (8 specimens): Locality data unknown. SAM_H1473 (2 specimens): Eastern margin, off Durban Harbor; 99 m. USNM 91505 (1 specimen): Eastern margin, 26 km from Cape Vidal/ 25 km off St Lucia Estuary, 27°54'18.00"S, 32°37'59.87"E; 105 m.

Description.

Corallum discoidal (GCD:H = 3.5-3.7) with a flat to convex porous base, giving a low density to corallum. Largest specimen examined (SAM_H1426) 25.3 mm in CD and 7.0 mm in H. Calice circular, with serrated calicular margin. Costae ridged and thin, with closely packed granules resulting in serrated edges. Costal bifurcations correspond to septal pattern. Intercostal spaces porous, broader towards calicular margin and thinner towards epicentre of base. Synapticular bars connect each costa to neighbouring septa near calicular margin, and near epicentre of base synapticular bars connect adjacent costae. Marginal shelf low, reaching a maximum of 3 mm in width. Corallum white.

Up to 120 septa arranged in a typical micrabaciid fashion. S1-2 non-bifurcate and straight, with subsequent S3 leading to multiple bifurcations. S1 extend from calicular margin to columella with vertical axial margins. S2 also straight, extending from calicular margin to columella, but joined by S3 near columella. S2-3 fusion forms a delta bearing ≤ two spines. S3 bifurcates repeatedly. The first bifurcation produces two S3i on either side of S2. The resultant edges of S3i adjacent to S2 bifurcates three more times in which the first bifurcation produces one S3ii, second one S3iii, and the last two S3iv. The S3i adjacent to S1 bifurcates four times, in which the first gives three S3iii and two S3iv. Axial edge of S1-2 and sometimes S3 join the spongy columella.

Distribution.

Regional: Eastern margin of South Africa, off Great Fish River mouth extending towards Cape Vidal; 79-183 m. Elsewhere: Tanzania ( Gardiner and Waugh 1939); Mozambique; Madagascar ( Cairns and Keller 1993); Philippines; Indonesia ( Cairns and Zibrowius 1997); Malaysia; Wallis and Futuna; Vanuatu; Australia; New Zealand ( Cairns 1995, 1998;1999); Japan (Cairns 1994); 270-610 m.

Remarks.

Letepsammia formosissima is one of the two species in the genus known from South African waters. It differs from the other reported species ( L. franki Owens, 1994) in its coarser septal dentition. Letepsammia formosissima was first reported in the region by van der Horst (1927) off Durban (towards St Lucia). Cairns (1989) subsequently alluded that three of van der Horst’s (1927) specimens were an undescribed species (USNM 82091). Later, Cairns and Keller (1993) also documented specimens resembling this undescribed species, which were later described as L. franki (Owens 1994).

Figures

Figure 14. A, B. Letepsammia formosissima (SAM _ H 1429, off Kidds Beach, 79 m) A calicular view B basal view C, D Letepsammia franki (SAMC _ A 090070, off Durban, 95 m) C calicular view D basal view E, F Rhombopsammia niphada (SAM _ H 1390, off Port Alfred, 90 m) E calicular view F basal view G, H Stephanophyllia fungulus (SAMC _ A 073106, Cape Vidal, 140 m) G calicular view H basal view I Madrepora oculata (SAM _ H 3038, off St Lucia, 825 m) full view J, L Culicia sp. cf. Culicia australiensis (SAMC _ A 073032, off Shaka's Rock, 50 m) J calicular view K full view L septa details M, N Culicia excavata. M (UCTES _ DBN 85 H, off Ispongo, depth unknown): full view N (BMNH 1840.09.30.19, Cape of Good Hope, depth unknown): Calicular view O, P Stenocyathus vermiformis (SAM _ H 3213, off Cintsa, 630 m) O calicular view P lateral view Scale bars: 10 mm (A-H, J-N); 100 mm (I); 2 mm (O, P).