Balanophyllia (Balanophyllia) vanderhorsti Cairns, 2001

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

Balanophyllia (Balanophyllia) vanderhorsti Cairns, 2001

Balanophyllia ponderosa van der Horst, 1926: 49-50, pl. 3, figs 6, 7. - Cairns and Keller 1993: 274. -Cairns 1994: 83, pl. 3A, B.

Balanophyllia (Balanophyllia) vanderhorsti Cairns, 2001: 16 (replacement name for junior homonym). -Tachikawa 2005: 11, Pl. 4, figs I, J.

Type locality.

Off the Maldives; 53 m (van der Horst 1926).

Type material.

The holotype is deposited at the NHMUK ( Cairns and Keller 1993).

Material examined.

None.

Distribution.

Regional: Eastern margin of South Africa, off Richards Bay; 51 m. Elsewhere: Seychelles (van der Horst 1926); Maldives (van der Horst 1926); off Sri Lanka ( Alcock 1893); Japan ( Eguchi 1968; Cairns 1994; Tachikawa 2005); 14-59 m.

Remarks.

No new records of Balanophyllia (B.) vanderhorsti were examined during the present study. Therefore, the occurrence of this species in South Africa is based solely on previous published records. Boshoff’s (1981) record of B. vanderhorsti (reported as B. ponderosa (which is a junior homonym)) has basal stolons and therefore represents Rhizopsammia Verrill, 1870. To reiterate, Cairns and Keller (1993) observed that this South African species closely resembles B. regalis (Alcock, 1893) in lacking an epitheca.