Sympodium caeruleum Ehrenberg, 1834

Benayahu, Yehuda, Ekins, Merrick & Mcfadden, Catherine S., 2021, Overview of the genus Sympodium Ehrenberg, 1834 (Octocorallia, Alcyonacea, Xeniidae), with the description of new species, revealing regional endemism, Zootaxa 5072 (4), pp. 324-350 : 332-334

publication ID

https://doi.org/ 10.11646/zootaxa.5072.4.2

publication LSID

lsid:zoobank.org:pub:810459A8-AF47-47A9-B5B6-BE45659B3E7F

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5749801

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/FB5F8935-FFD6-FFA6-FF0C-FF6F3FA4D181

treatment provided by

Plazi

scientific name

Sympodium caeruleum Ehrenberg, 1834
status

 

Sympodium caeruleum Ehrenberg, 1834 View in CoL

Figs. 3B–C View FIGURE 3 , 4 View FIGURE 4 , 5 View FIGURE 5

Sympodium caeruleum Ehrenberg 1834: 61 View in CoL

Sympodium caeruleum Ehrenberg, 1834 View in CoL ; Dana, 1846: 609; Hickson 1931: 174; Gohar 1940: 107–108, pl. VIII; Benayahu 1990: 118 (listed only); Reinicke 1995: 56–57, figs. 1, 12; Reinicke 1997: 23, figs 7a–b, Plate 9, 13; McFadden et al. 2011 (listed only); Haverkort-Yeh et al. 2013 (listed only); McFadden et al. 2019 (listed only).

Sympodium coeruleum: Milne Edwards & Haime 1857: 111 View in CoL ; Gray, 1869: 120; Wright & Studer, 1889: 271 (listed only).

S. coeruleum: Kükenthal 1904: 39–41 View in CoL , plate 4, fig. 3; pl. 5, figs. 13, 14; Kükenthal 1913: 2 (listed only); Kükenthal 1916: 456.

? Sympodium cöruleum: Klunzinger 1877: 42–43 , Plate 3, Fig. 5 View FIGURE 5 .

Not Sympodium caeruleum: May 1899: 51–52 View in CoL ; Thomson & Henderson: 1906: 408; Thomson & Mackinnon, 1910: 168; Thomson & Dean 1931: 21; Roxas 1933: 107, pl. 3 fig. 4; Macfadyen 1936: 23; Tixier-Durivault 1966: 371–372, fig. 334; Verseveldt 1973: 168–169; Utinomi: 1977: 7–8, plate II, fig. 5; Benayahu 1993: 6 (listed only); Malyutin 1992: 2 (listed only): Janes 2013: 198 (listed only); McFadden et al. 2014a: Table 1 View TABLE 1 .

Material examined. Syntypes: Egypt. ZMB Cni 240 (several colonies), northern Red Sea, Gulf of Suez, Sinai, At-Tur, coll. H. H . R. Hartmeyer . Additional material: Egypt. ZMH C 3245 View Materials , same details; SMNHTAU_ Co _ 9897, northern Red Sea Gulf of Suez, Abu Durbah (28° 28’ 25”N, 33° 19’ 51”E), 1 October 1972, coll. L. Fishelson GoogleMaps ; SMNHTAU_ Co _ 9898, same details; SMNHTAU_ Co _ 25585, same details; SMNHTAU_ Co _ 25397, northern Red Sea , southern tip of Sinai Peninsula, 2–5 m, 8 November 1981, coll. Y. Benayahu ; SMNHTAU_ Co _ 25641, northern Red Sea, southern tip of Sinai Peninsula, Shaab al Utaf (27°45’ 23.6”N, 34°10’10.4”E), 3 m, 15 August 1987, coll. Y. Benayahu GoogleMaps ; SMNHTAU_ Co _ 26022, northern Red Sea , southern tip of Sinai, 27 March 1987, coll. Y. Benayahu ; SMNHTAU_ Co _ 26024, northern Red Sea, Straits of Tiran , 18 m, 27 March 1988, coll. Y. Benayahu ; SMNHTAU_ Co _ 26031, northern Red Sea, Gulf of Suez, Shag Rock (27°47’00.0”N 33°53’00.0”E), 25 m, 7 October 1987, coll. Y. Benayahu GoogleMaps ; SMNHTAU_ Co _ 26032, northern Red Sea, Gulf of Suez, Shag Rock (27°47’00.0”N 33°53’00.0”E), 8 October 1987, coll. Y. Benayahu GoogleMaps ; SMNHTAU_ Co _ 26033, northern Red Sea, southern tip of Sinai Peninsula, Shaab al Utaf (27°45’23.6”N, 34°10’10.4”E), 10 m, 5 October 1988, Coll. Y. Benayahu GoogleMaps ; Israel. SMNHTAU_ Co _ 7953, northern Red Sea, Gulf of Aqaba , Eilat , 1 June 1971, coll. L. Fishelson ; SMNHTAU_ Co _ 34184, northern Red Sea, Gulf of Aqaba , Eilat , Princess Coral Reef (29°29.77’N, 34°54.53’E), 22.9–24.4 m, 26 July 2007, coll. Y. Benayahu GoogleMaps ; SMNHTAU_ Co _ 34185, same details; SMNHTAU_ Co _ 34919, northern Red Sea , Gulf of Aqaba , Eilat , Oil Jetty (29.52993°N, 34.93535°E), 13 m, 30 November 2008, coll. D. Aharonovich GoogleMaps ; SMNHTAU_ Co _35020; northern Red Sea, Gulf of Aqaba , Eilat, the reef across the Interuniversity Institute for Marine Sciences , Israel (29°30′N, 034°55′E), 10–12m, 19 February 2008, coll. D. Aharonovich GoogleMaps ; SMNHTAU_ Co _35028, northern Red Sea, Gulf of Aqaba , Eilat , Oil Jetty (29.52993°N, 34.93535°E), 13 May 2008, 12 m, coll. D. Aharonovich GoogleMaps ; SMNHTAU_ Co _35030 same details; SMNHTAU_ Co _35032 same details; SMNHTAU_ Co _ 35044, northern Red Sea , Gulf of Aqaba , Eilat , Coral Beach Nature Reserve (29.50993°N, 34.92.39°E), 20 m, 18 January, 2011, coll. A. Halász ; SMNHTAU_ Co _ 37045, northern Red Sea, Gulf of Aqaba , Eilat , Oil Jetty (29.52993°N, 34.93535°E), 10 m, 9 November 2011, coll. A. Halász GoogleMaps ; SMNHTAU_ Co _ 37046, northern Red Sea, Gulf of Aqaba , Eilat , Oil Jetty (29.52993°N, 34.93535°E), 15 m, 9 November 2011, coll. A. Halász GoogleMaps ; SMNHTAU_ Co _ 37047, northern Red Sea, Gulf of Aqaba , Eilat , Princess Coral Reef , (29°29.77’N, 34°54.53’E), 25 m, 8 November 2011, coll. A. Halász GoogleMaps ; SMNHTAU_ Co _ 37048, northern Red Sea, Gulf of Aqaba , Eilat , Oil Jetty (29.52993°N, 34.93535°E), 10 m, 9 November 2011, coll. A. Halász GoogleMaps ; SMNHTAU_ Co _ 37688, Northern Red Sea, Gulf of Aqaba , Eilat , Princess Coral Reef (29°29.77’N, 34°54.53’E), 5 m, 20 March 2018, coll. R. Liberman GoogleMaps . Saudi Arabia. USNM1201982 About USNM , Al Lith, Marmar Reef (19 o 50’N, 39 o 56’E), 5 m, April 2011, coll GoogleMaps . R. Haverkort-Yeh ; USNM1201969 About USNM , Dora Reef (19 o 49’N, 39 o 53’E), 6 m, April 2011, coll GoogleMaps . R. Haverkort-Yeh ; UF 9544 , Yanbu, Shi’b Sufflami (23.543467°N, 38.22791°7E), 4 March 2014, coll. G. Paulay ; UF 14223 , Jeddah (21.7127°N, 39.0803°E), 24.4 m, 26 October 2018, coll. C. McFadden. GoogleMaps

Description. The syntypes, ZMB Cni 240, consist of several small encrusting membrane-like colonies firmly attached to an irregular calcareous fragment measuring approximately 10 x 6 cm ( Fig. 4A View FIGURE 4 ). The largest colony is 2.5 x 2 cm and the others are smaller, approximately 1 cm 2. Certain parts of the colonies are extended into small crevices of the fragment. The membrane overgrowing the substrate is 1–1.5 mm thick. Some of the polyps are fully retracted while others are partly expanded ( Fig. 4B View FIGURE 4 ). The polyp body is up to 10 mm long and the tentacles up to 5 mm long. The pinnules are arranged in 3 rows, with 5–8 pinnules in the outermost row. They are short, approximately 1 mm long and 0.5 mm wide, with almost no space between adjacent ones.

The sclerites of the syntypes are ellipsoid platelets, highly abundant throughout the colony, measuring 0.010 – 0.012 x 0.014 –0.017 mm in diameter ( Fig. 5A View FIGURE 5 ). They are composed of calcite rods, uniform in diameter of ca. 0.001 mm; the tips of the rods are perpendicular to the surface of the sclerite, giving it a granular appearance ( Fig. 5B View FIGURE 5 ).

Color. The ethanol-preserved syntypes are gray.

Variation. The morphological features of the sequenced colony (SMNHTAU_Co_ 34185) resemble those of the syntypes, and it similarly grows over a calcareous fragment by means of a thin spreading membrane. The pinnules are arranged in 2–3 rows, with 6–7 pinnules in the outermost one. Some pinnules are retracted, however the few expanded ones are up to 1 mm in length. Similarly , other Red Sea colonies that were sequenced ( USNM1201982 About USNM and USNM 1201969 About USNM ) resemble the syntypes, except in size .

Color. All the ethanol-preserved samples are gray.

Remarks. The morphology of all the additional S. caeruleum colonies collected from the Red Sea ( Israel, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia) corresponds to the syntypes, but they may differ in size and in the density of the polyps emerging from the spreading membrane. All of the sequenced colonies (SMNHTAU_Co_ 34185, USNM 1201982, USNM 1201969, UF 9544 and UF 14223) were assigned to MOTU21 ( McFadden et al. 2019). Based on the current findings, it is suggested that this species is the only representative of the genus present in the Red Sea.

Living features. The live colonies feature a membrane-like morphology with expanded polyps, whose color presents a bluish or light greyish-white tinge ( Figs. 3B–C View FIGURE 3 ).

Distribution. Red Sea.

ZMB

Museum für Naturkunde Berlin (Zoological Collections)

R

Departamento de Geologia, Universidad de Chile

ZMH

Zoologisches Museum Hamburg

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Cnidaria

Class

Anthozoa

Order

Alcyonacea

Family

Xeniidae

Genus

Sympodium

Loc

Sympodium caeruleum Ehrenberg, 1834

Benayahu, Yehuda, Ekins, Merrick & Mcfadden, Catherine S. 2021
2021
Loc

S. coeruleum: Kükenthal 1904: 39–41

Kukenthal, W. 1916: 456
Kukenthal, W. 1913: 2
Kukenthal, W. 1904: 41
1904
Loc

Sympodium caeruleum:

Janes, M. P. 2013: 198
Benayahu, Y. 1993: 6
Malyutin, A. N. 1992: 2
Verseveldt, J. 1973: 168
Tixier-Durivault, A. 1966: 371
Macfadyen, L. M. I. 1936: 23
Roxas, H. A. 1933: 107
Thomson, J. A. & Dean, L. M. I. 1931: 21
Thomson, J. A. & Mackinnon, D. L. 1910: 168
May, W. 1899: 52
1899
Loc

Sympodium coeruleum

Wright, E. P. & Studer, T. 1889: 271
Gray, J. E. 1869: 120
1869
Loc

Sympodium caeruleum

Reinicke, G. B. 1997: 23
Reinicke, G. B. 1995: 56
Benayahu, Y. 1990: 118
Gohar, H. A. F. 1940: 107
Hickson, S. J. 1931: 174
Dana, J. D. 1846: 609
1846
Loc

Sympodium caeruleum

Ehrenberg, C. G. 1834: 61
1834
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