Gulf Research Reports, Vol. 6, No. 1.9-15

A CHECKLIST OF THE AHERMATYPIC SCLERACTINIA OF THE

GULF OF MEXICO, WITH THE DESCRIPTION OF A NEW SPECIES

STEPHEN D. CAIRNS*

Rosenstiel School of Marine and A tmospheric Science,

University of Miami. Miami. Florida 33149

ABSTRACT A brief chronology of discovery of the 54 ahermatypic Sclcractinia known from the Gulf of Mexico is

presented. Of this total, 6 are new records for the Gulf. A checklist is provided for all species indicatinj; their Gulf distribution and their overall bathymetric range. One new species oiPoitrtalosmilia is described, which represents a new record

for this genus in the western Atlantic.

INTRODUCTION

Ahermatypic Scleractinia from the Gulf and Caribbean

were systematically collected aboard the U. S. Coast Survey

Steamers "Corwin," "Bibb," and '"Blake." and studied by

Pourtales between 1867 1880. Pourtales (1867) reported

the first ahermatypic corals from stations occupied by the

"Corwin" in the Gulf off Havana, Cuba: Caryophyllia

herteriana and Enallopsammia profunda. After more extensive dredging by the "Bibb." mainly off the Tortugas and

Key West, Florida, Pourtales (1871) reported an additional

13 species from these areas. Finally, as the result of 86

stations occupied by the "Blake," from localities north of

the Yucatan Peninsula, off northwestern Cuba, and the west

coast of Florida, he (Pourtales 1878) added another 19

species to the Gulf fauna. "Blake" station 50 is discounted

because of ambiguous locality data.

No additional species of ahermatypes were reported until

Whitten, Rosen and Hedgpeth (1950) listed Astrangia

astreiformis from the Texas coast in a prehminary survey of

that area.

Moore and Bullis( 1960) were the first to report Lophelia

prolifera from the Gulf about 65 km east of the mouth of

the Mississippi River. They estimated that this species

formed banks over a kilometer long and 55 m thick at

depths of 371-512 m.

In their listing of benthic invertebrates of the eastern

Gulf of Mexico, Collard and D'Asaro (1973) listed five more

species for the Gulf fauna based on implied records found

in Vaughan and Wells (1943). D'Asaro (pars, comm.),

however, collected only two of these species from the Gulf:

Astrangia solitaria and Phyllangia americana. Both Tresslar

(1974) and Keller (1975) recorded ahermatypes from the

Gulf but did not establish new records.

In his unpublished dissertation, Cairns (1976, appendix

II) listed 21 species of deep-water ahermatypes from the

*Present address; Department of Invertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C. 20560 Gulf of Mexico, four of which were new records for the

Gulf Based on additional material collected by the Florida

Department of Natural Resources in Project "Hourglass."

Cairns (1977) listed 36 ahermatypic species from the Gulf,

six of which were new records for the Gulf This paper lists

six additional ahermatypic species, increasing the total number of ahermatypes known from tlie Gulf to 54.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The data that form the basis of the checklist were

obtained from the literature ciied in the introduction.

Unfortunately, Pourtales rarely indicated the station number at which a specimen was collected. It is therefore necessary to consult a detailed station list (Smith 1889) and see

the original material to compensate for junior synonyms,

misidentifications and split lots. The distribution and identification of every species were verified by the author, either

from the original material or from subsequently collected

specimens. The specimens on which the new records are

based were among approximately 500 specimens on loan

from Dr. Linda H. Pequegnal and Mr. Jack H. Thompson

(Texas A&M University), and numerous specimens collected

primarily by the "Oregon" and "Silver Bay" in the NMNH

collections.

The southeastern limits of the Gulf of Mexico are defined

as the line connecting Key West, Florida to the closest

point of the Cuban coast (approximately 81°48'W) and the

shortest line between western Cuba and northeastern

Yucatan, Mexico. Species occurring primarily outside of the

Gulf of Mexico but which have been collected from the

western Straits of Florida at the edge of their ranges are not

included in the checklist. These species are Fungiacyathus

symmetricus, Anthemiphyllia patera, Caryophyllia antillarum, Deltocyathus agassizi, Trochocyathus recurvatus, Trochocyathus cylindraceus, Desrnophyllum cristagalli. Tlialamophyllia riisei, Peponocyathus folliculus, "Rhizolrochus" tulipa. Gardineria minor, "Ceratotrochus" hispidus,

Balanophyllia cyathoides. and Enallopsammia rastrata.

The Gulf is further subdivided into six areas (Figure 1)10 CAIRNS

to facilitate geographic categorization: (1) from the Florida

Keys to Apalachee Bay, Florida; (2) from Apalachee Bay to

the Mississippi River Delta; (3) from the Delta to the TexasMexico border; (4) from that border to the TabascoCampeche, Mexico border; (5) the Campeche Bank; and (6)

the Yucatan Channel and off northwestern Cuba to

81°48'W. TABLE 1

- Continued

Figure 1. Map of the Gulf of Mexico showing the six geographic

subdivisions used in this paper. The 100 fm contour is included.

CHECKLIST

Distributional records (Table 1) are those for the Gulf of

Mexico only; however, depth ranges provided are for the

species throughout its range. Descriptions, photographs, and

complete geographic ranges for most of these species are in

Cairns (1976). An asterisk (*) denotes a new record for the

GulfofMexico. The number one in parentheses (1) indicates

that this species is known from only one Gulf record. This

list is far from comprehensive, since little collecting has

been done in areas 4 and 6. Inevitably more ahermatypic

species will be discovered in the Gulf and distributional

gaps will be filled in.

TABLE I.

Checklist and distributions of ahermatypic Scleractinia

known from the Gulf of Mexico

Geographic Area

12 3 4 5 6 Depth Range

(meters)

Order: Scleractinia

Suborder: Astrocoeniina

Family: Pocilloporidae

Madracis myriaster (Milne X X

Edwards & Haime,

1849) X 37

- 875 Geographic Area

2 3 4 5 6 Depth Range

(meters)

Madracis asperula Milne

Edwards & Haime,

1849

Suborder: Fungiina

Family: Fungiidae

Fungiacyathus crispus

(Pourtales, 1871) X X

Suborder: Caryophylliina

Family: Caryophylliidae

Caryophyllia sp. cf. C.

ambrosia Alcock, 1898 X X X X X X

Caryophyllia cornuformis X

. . X

Pourtales, 1868 i

Caryophyllia berteriana XX XX

Duchassaing, 1850

Caryophyllia polygona

_ X X

Pourtales, 1878

Caryophyllia horologium X X

Cairns, 1977 24

- 200

183

- 1010

Suborder: Faviina

F'amily: Faviidae

Cladocora debilis Milne

Edwards & Haime,

1849 X X 11

- 150

Family: Rhizangiidae

Astrangia astreiformis

Milne Edwards &

Haime, 1849 X X X 10

- 29

Astrangia solitaria

(Lesueur, 1817) X X 0.3-43

Phyllangia americana

MUne Edwards &

Haime, 1849 X X 0.3

- 40

Family: Oculinidae

Oculina tenella

Pourtales, 1871 X X 67

Madrepora oculata

Linnaeus, 1 758 X X X 80-1500

Madrepora Carolina

(Pourtales, 1871) X X X X 53

- 1003

183

- 2360

137

- 931

100

- 850

715- 1817

55

- 100TABLE 1

- Continued CHECKLIST OF GULI 

### oi' MEXICO AHERMATYPES

TABLE I

- Continued 

### 11

Geographic Area

12 3 4 5 6 Depth Range

(meters) Geographic Area

12 3 4 5 6 Depth Range

(meters)

Caryophyllia maculata X

(Pourtales, 1874)

*Oxysmilia rotundifolia X

(Milne Edwards &

Haime, 1849)

'"jyochocyathus" flos X

(Pourtales, 1878)

Trochocyathus rawsonii X

Pourtales, 1874

Paracyathus pulchellus XXX

(PhiUppi, 1842)

"Thecocyathus" laevigatus X

Pourtales, 1871

Deltocyathus italicus X X

(Michelotti, 1838)

Deltocyathus calcar X X

Pourtales, 1874

Deltocyathus hexagonus X X

(Gravier, 1915)

*Stephanocyathus (S.)

diadema (Moseley, X X

1876)

*Stephanocyathus (S.J

pa/;/e/-us Cairns, 1977 X

*Stephanocyathus (O.)

coronatus X

(Pourtales, 1867)

Turbinolia corhicuk

Pourtales, 1878

Peponocyathus stimpsomi X

(Pourtales, 1871) X X

X X

Sphenotrochus sp.

Lophelia prolifera

(Pallas, 1 766)

Anomocora fecunda

(Pourtales, 1871)

Coenosmilia arbuscula

Pourtales, 1874

Dasmosmitia variegata

(Pourtales, 1871)

Dasmosmitia lymani

(Pourtales, 1871)

Solenosmilia variabilis

Duncan, 1873

Asterosmilia prolifera

(Pourtales, 1871) X(l) X X

X X

X X

X X

X X

X X

X X

X X 3 161 *Pourtatosmilia

conferta n. sp. X(l) 55 ^

- 191

46

- -640

1-aniily: IHabellidae

22

- - 560 Flabellum moseleyi

Pourtales, 1 880 X X X 216-

- 1097

131

- -622 Flabellum fragile

Cairns, 1977 X X 80-

- 366

25

- - 838 Javania cailleti

(Duchassaing &

Michelotti, 1864) X X X X 86-

- 2165

183

- - 576

"Rhizotrochus " fragilis X X X 90- -796

Pourtales, 1868

403

- - 2634

Gardineria simplex X(l) 12-

- 183

(Pourtales, 1878)

101

- 675

183

- -910 Family: Guyniidae

Guynia aimulata Duncan, X X X X X 3- -653

1872

795

- ^ 2133 Schizocyalhus fissilis X X X 88

- -640

Pourtales, 1 874

229

- - 1158 Stenocyathus vermiformis X X 128 1229

(Pourtales, 1 868)

543

- - 1280 Suborder: Dendrophylliina

Family: Dendrophylliidae

400- -576

Balanophyllia floridana X X X 37

- - 183

110

- -293 Pourtales, 1 868

Balanophyllia palifera X 53

- -708

15 Pourtales, 1878

60-

- 2170 Dendrophyllia cornucopia

Pourtales, 1871 X X 132- -960

73

- 567 *Dendrophyllia alternata

Pourtales, 1880 X 276-

- 1200

109

- - 807 Enallopsammia profunda

(Pourtales, 1867) X X 146-

- 1748

1 85

- - 600 Bathypsammia

tintinnabulum X X 210-

- 1079

(Pourtales, 1868)

33

- - 366 "Rhizopsammia"

manuelensis X X 55

- - 366

Chevalier, 1966

220- -3383

Trochopsammia

infundibulum X(l) 532^

- 1472

32- -311 Pourtales, 187812 CAIRNS

SYSTEMATIC ACCOUNT

Order Scleractinia Bourne, 1900

Suborder Caryophylliina Vaughan and Wells, 1943

Family Caryophylliidae Gray, 1847

Subfamily Parasmiliinae Vaughan and Wells, 1943

Genus Pourtalosmilia Duncan, 1885

The genus Pourtalosmilia, previously considered to be a

junior synonym of Anomocora Studer, 1878, was resurrected by Zibrowius (1976) for the eastern Atlantic P.

anthophyllites. The following records are the first for this

genus in the western Atlantic.

Pourtalosmilia conferta. n. sp.

(Plate 1, Figures 1-6)

Material Examined. USNM 46851, Holotype colony;

USNM 46852, Paratypes, 2 large colonies and 5 pieces, R/V

"Silver Bay" 5660, 34°57.5'N. 75°19.5'W, 119-173 m,

14 April 1964; USNM 46853, 6 Paratypes, M/V "Silver

Bay"332, 29°17'N.88°16'W, 84m,24March 1958; USNM

46854, 6 Paratypes, R/V "Gerda" 134, 24°29'N, 80°53'W,

191 m,21 June 1963; USNM 46855,1 Paratype, 79°58.0'N,

27°5i.8'W, 83 m, (collected by W. Jaap); USNM 46856,

2 Paratypes, M/V "Albatross" 111, 18 miles off Cape Lookout, North Carolina, 55 m, 12 February 1950; USNM

46857, 18 Paratypes (dead), "Chain" cruise 35, station 15,

0.5-0.7 miles east of St. Paul Rocks. Brazil, 291 m,

13 April 1963; USNM 46858, 10+ Paratypes, "Chain"

cruise 35, station 16. 0.6-0.4 miles southeast of St. Paul

Rocks. Brazil, 110-146 m, 13 April 1063;off Ilha Raza de

Guaratiba, Brazil, near 23°05'N, 43°34'W, depth unknown,

17 July 1959, deposited at Station Marine d'Endoume,

Marseille; south of Cape Hatteras. North Carolina, 35°

15.8'N, 76°02'W, 82 100 m (collected by I. Macintyre,

No. 8234), deposited at Cornell University.

Description. This species forms large, densely-branched

colonies tliat result primarily from extratentacular budding

from the edge zone. However, intratentacular budding also

occurs. The subcylindrical corallites may continue to grow

even after budding several new coralhtes, and attain lengths

up to 60 mm. Adjacent corallites often anastomose laterally,

which produces a very compact corallum with small cavities

throughout. These cavities often provide niches for various

bivalves, bryozoa, and polychaetes. The largest colony

examined measures 22 cm tall and 19 cm in diameter,

weighing 1.5 kg (dry skeleton). Calices are round to elliptical; an average adult calice measures between 7.5—11.0 mm

in diameter. The coenosteum is covered by uniform, fine,

round granules that produce a smooth texture. Sometimes

very faint intercostal striae are present near the calice, but

in general, costae are not evident.

The septa are arranged in six systems and four cycles,

rarely exceeding 48 in number. Si and S2 are equal in size. slightly,exsert and have straight, vertical inner edges that do

not reach the columella. S3 are slightly smaller and have

wavy lower inner edges. S4 are the smallest septa and have

straight inner edges. In one particularly large calice (calicular

diameter

= 12.0 mm) there are 72 septa arranged in 18 halfsystems instead of 13 pairs of smaller S5 arranged within

the first 12 half-systems. The septal granulation is variable,

ranging from low, pointed spines to tall, blunt granules.

Tlie lower,inner edges of the S3 often bear short carinae

oriented perpendicular to the septal edge.

Large, prominent pali, usually forming a distinct crown,

are arranged before the S3. The fossa is fairly deep and contains a large fascicular columella composed of twisted

ribbons, which may stand alone or be solidly fused to one

another in a spongy mass. Widely spaced, endothecal dissepiments are abundant.

Discussion. Pourtalosmilia conferta is very similar to P.

anthophyllites (Ellis and Solander, 1786) (Plate 1. Figure 7),

which is known only from the eastern Atlantic (Zibrowius

1976). They are distinguished primarily on the basis of

their pali. The pali of P. anthophyllites are often poorly

defined or absent, not separated by a distinct notch from

their septa, and sometimes identical in structure to the

columellar elements, rarely forming a distinct palar crown.

Those of P. conferta arc usually well-defined, separated

from their septa by a deep and narrow notch, always

structurally di.stinct from the columella,and usually forming a distinct palar crown. Also, P. conferta usually has a

complete fourth cycle of septa (48 septa) and sinuous inner

edges to the S3, whereas P. anthophyllites often has less

than 48 septa (9-11 half-systems) and straight inner edges

to the S3.

Etymology. The specific name conferta, meaning

crowded or thick, pertains to the densely-branched colonial

habit of the species.

Type

- Locality. Off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina:

34°57.5'N, 75°19.5'W, 119-173 m.

Geographic Distribution. Off Cape Hatteras; Florida east

coast; Pourtales Terrace, Straits of Florida; off Mississippi,

Gulf of Mexico; St. Paul Rocks; off Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Bathynietric Range. 55 191 m.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I wish to thank Dr. L. H. Pequegnat, Mr. J. H. Thompson,

Jr. (Texas A&M University) and Mr. W. C. Jaap (Florida

Department of Natural Resources) for contributing specimens used in this study. 1 am indebted to Dr. F. M. Bayer

(USNM) for access to the National Museum collections. I

would also like to thank Dr. H. Zibrowius (Station Marine

d'Endounie, Marseille) for comparative material of P.

anthophyllites.CHECKLIST OI' GULI' 

### or MEXICO AHERMATYPES 

### 13

LITERATURE CITED

Cairns. S. D. 1976. Review of the deep-water ahermatypic corals

(Scleractinia) of the tropical western Atlantic. Ph.D. Disserlation, Univ. Miami, 316 pp., 35 pis.

1977. Stony Corals. I. Caryophylliina and Dendrophylliina (Antliozoa: Scleractinia). Memoirs of the Hourglass Cruises

3(4). 29 pp., 2 pis.

1977. A review of the recent species oi Stephanocyathus

(Anthozoa; Scleractinia) in the western Atlantic, with descriptions of two new species. Bull. Mar. Sci. 27(4):729- 739, 2 pis.

CoUard, S. B. & C. N. D'Asaro. 1973. Benthic invertebrates of the

eastern Gulf of Mexico. Pp. Ill C 1 -27 in J. 1. Jones, et al., eds.

A suimnary of knowledge of the eastern Gulf of Mexico. State

Univ. of Florida Institute of Oceanography.

Keller, N. B. 1975. Ahermatypic madreporarian corals of the

Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. Trudy fnst. Okeanol.

100:174-187, 2 pis. [In Ru.ssian with English summary.)

Moore, D. R. & H. R. Bullis. 1960. A deep-water coral reef in the

G\i\iQ(UexKo.Butl.Mar.Sci. GulfCarib. 10(I):1 25-128, 2figs.

Pourtalcs, L. I-'. 1 867. Contributions to the fauna of the Gulf Stream

at great depths. BM//. MUS. Comp. Z(x>t. 1(6):103 120.

1871. Deep-Sea Corals. lUustr. Cat. Mus. Comp. Zool.

4. 93 pp, 8 pis. I 878. Reports of the results of dredging

... by the U. S.

Coast Survey steamer "Blake." Corals. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool.

5(91:197 212. I pi.

Smith, S. 1889. List of dredging stations occupied by the U. S.

Coast Survey Steamers "Corwin," "Bibb," "Hassler," and "Blake"

from 1867 to 1880. Rept. Coinm. ISSb. U. S. Bur Fish. Kept..

pp.871 1017.

Tresslar, R. C. 1974. Corals. Pp. 115-139 in T. J. Bright and L. H.

Pequegnat, eds. Biota of the West Flower Garden Bank. Gulf

Publ. Co.. Houston, Texas.

Vaughan. T. \V. & J. W. Wells. 1943. Revision of the suborders,

families, and genera of the Scleractinia. Geol. Soc. Amer., Spec.

Pap. 44. 363 pp., 51 pis.

Whitten. H. L., H. I". Rosen & J. W. Hedgpeth. 1950. Tlie invertebrate fauna of Texas coast jetties. A preliminary survey. Insl.

Marine Sci. Univ. Texas, Publ. 1(2B):53 87. I pi.

Zibrowius, H. 1976. Les scleractiniarcs dc la Mediterrane'e et del'

.Xtlanlique nord-oriental. These Univ. Aix-Marseille, No. d'

Knregislrement au CNRS: A. O. 11515. 320 pp., 106 pis.,

29 maps, [unpublished]

### 14 CAIRNS



### PLATE 1

CAFnONS

1. Pourtalosmilia conferta (holotypic colony): "Silver Bay" 5660, X 0.5, USNM 46851.

2. P. conferta (paratype)

3. P. conferta (paratype)

4. P. conferta (paratype)

5. P. conferta (paratype) off Cape Lookout, North Carolina, X 4.5, USNM 46856.

"Silver Bay" 332, X 0.9, USNM 46853.

"Silver Bay" 332. X 3.0, USNM 46853.

off eastern Florida, X 4.5, USNM 46855.

6. P. conferta (paratype): off llha Raza de Guaratiba, Brazil, X 2.7, deposited at Station

Marine d'Endoume, Marseille.

7. P. anthophyllites: 38°16.8'N, 8°56.4'W, 250-300 m, X 4.0, deposited at Station

Marine d'Endoume, Marseille.CHECKLIST OF GULF OF MEXICO AHERMATYPES PLATE 

### i 15