A REVIEW OF GERARDIIDAE (ANTHOZOA: ZOANTHARIA ... - redmic

la, strong current environment, O. Ocaña leg. Sal: we observed colonies in Santa M .
16°35'N 22°54'0, 20-25 m, on vertical waJls and crevices, associated with Tarta
high sedimentation, O. Ocaña leg.; Palmeira Bay, 16°45'N 22°59'0
gate caves, associated to antipatharian, O. Ocaña lego
25 m ver·t·cavlernlc
, , Ica w 1I
a
Morphology: Several ways of growth and external appearances can occu' h
. r In t e
ent new specles. In the case that the colony creates its own skeleton, a basal plate is P
ated where the polyps are asexuaJly produced (Fig. 5e); after this the colon y Contin gen
erating many branches in a single plane or in several of them. Sometimes the spe ~esg
.. . c~
ge~erate a poor developed ~Ibbon hke skele~on, ha:dly notlced without an aCCurateob
vatlon of the colony. GroWIng up on an antlpathanan skeleton is the third way of
showed by this new species, the characteristic spines of those are some identificatio~T0har.
acters in order to distinguish the antipatharian skeleton where the G. rnacaronesica c
occurs. The colonies may reach one meter high.
In preserved material, the polyps measurements are variable between 0,2-1 cm hi
and 0,2-0,5 wide; due to the retraction stage the column can be cylindrical to flat mamm¡.
form; the texture should be roughly by the 90ncentration of sand in the ectoderm of
polyp walJ. In aJive and expanded conditions the sizes increase considerably in two OTthree
centimeters at least. Colonies with small polyps were frequently noticed in the material froII
Cape Verde. The tentac1es present medium size in expanded conditions; they are pointed.
42 in number, arranged in two, more or less, entacmeic cyc1es; we noticed 21 marginal t
The polyps are overhanging from coenenchyme, but extremely embedded polyp
noticed. Wide coenenchyme in the well developed areas with many polyps, fine and I
developed in the extreme areas of the colony.
The species present several colours, from yellow to orange in the tentacles, the
coenenchyme and the column (Fig. 5). As a consequence of the sediment accumulation and
other conditions, not well c1eared, the column can be brownish or whitish, or even pinki
in the column; the brownish column are typical from the colo nies growing on antipathan
ans, although not exclusively. Fixed specimens turned into red colour frequently allhou
orange or brownish are also possible.
Microanatomy and histology: The mesenteries present macrocnemic dispositio
although one specimen showed an intermediate arrangement; there are 28 mesenleries iothe
pharynx region and 42 in the upper column region. Most of the mesenteries are conoected
with a short, low folded pharynx; a single siphonoglyph, larger than wider, is noticed (FI
2d).
The sphincter is well developed and mostly endodermal, aJthough a final portioOo
.
It ISconsldered
. .
mesogleal (see OCANA
- . 5 b) The meseoler
el al, 1995) [25] (see Flgs. a y . an
ial musc1es are poorly developed, we failed in detecting retractor musc1es and weak ~ure
l
etobasilar musc1e only in some mesenteries. The tentacles present also a weak mus cu a
and it is arranged in short process. 1 pre5
The ectoderm present to 80 11mthick, being in the column poorly develo ped
i :iSu
ents glandular ceJls and b-mastigophores; there is afine cuticle that covers the who e '0 the
. 'd tegones, l
The tentacular ectoderm IS well developed and presents several cm om ca e cilia are
pharynx we noticed a few nematocysts, absence of glandular cel1s and larg
observed in the siphonoglyph.
. can reach to 120 Ilffi thick; it presents afine structure and more develm
'sog 1 oea . . .
')1le (;. I than in other anatorrucal areas. We notlced low cel1ular denslty, some
h' "0 umn
110 1 (; ~ d I content have been observed (Fig. 2c); sand incrustations are numerous
. h glan u ar
\\11 art of the column. The mesogloea is hardly noticed in some areas of the
. lhe outer p . .
aaUy10 h harynx wider in the slphonoglyph than In any other area of the pharynx.
nleries aod ld e . p can r~ach to 80 Ilffi thick, it is formed by absorption cells in the col-
Th' codo elm .
e l' dular cel1s among those; commonly, not folded and It presents a low
d some g an .
aO· Mt landular cells are observed along the mesentenes; a very low developlopmeol.
dOd s rgmis noticed in some mesenterical areas. There are filaments unilobuf
lhe en o e
010 '1 h I led (Figs 2 e and f) in the top of the mesenterial filaments. In the speciaod
In o u a· . .
"d we observed gonads development In all the macrocnemes (FIgs. 2 g and h).
o ludle, 'd ( . d l
oidom: A complete survey of t~~ C~l om mea~urements, categones an p acef
h 1alerial from different 10calJtJes IS presented In the table 1. We notlced one catnOolen
. .
of spirocysls and several cate~ones. of the other ~ematocysts eqUlpment: t~ree catery
of elliplical, some of them oVOld,splrulae (b-~astlgophores); one category ISthe sp.eal
pirulae only present in some groups of zoant~ld.s, as the presentogenus. T~ree pemcIlmasligophores)
categones: one category of ellJptlcal to some oVOldpemcIlII A; one cat-
~ of elliplical big penicilli E and other of rather small elliptical to ovoid penicilli E.
lb re are al50 lWOcategories of real, but not very conspicuous, homotrichs of elliptical
pe. a lhird liny category of nematocyst can be assume as a homotrich but it need confir-
1100.
Remarks.- The absence and the presence (or also the range of abundance) of some
adomcalegories found in the studied material of G. rnacaronesica, along the distribution
•should be explained as a part of the specific range of variation displayed by this taxon.
rtheless, lhe different origins of the studied material and, specially, the differences of
onservalion method used, should be also taking in account. Some tiny categories (as the
mall homolrichs fram the wall) may be easily overlooked by the observer; moreover, the
rang of abundance of these capsules categories, in the polyps from different colonies, does
nol have lo be underestimated. Other categories which are not very conspicuous, like the
medlUmsize homotrichs from the filament or pharynx, can be easily overJooked due to its
n morphology and placement. We offer (see Fig. 1) an ideal nematocysts equipment for
macarollesica, although, for identification matters we recommend to use the most common
categories, always present in all the specimens from different populations studied by
u ( e lable 1and Fig. 1).
bit 1: G('/'{¡rdia lila. . .
lJlary I lands COIoneSlca. Survey of the cmdom of five colonies from different localilies. A: El Hierro,
Igas hlcls ¡DZZG-6). B: Santiago, Cabo Verde (DZZG-12). C: Holotype (TFMCBMCN/OOO 188). D:
. lores (DOP n/n). E: Madeira (MMF25715)