Desmophyllum pertusum (Linnaeus, 1758)

Fig. 3K, L

Madrepora pertusa Linnaeus, 1758: 797.

Madrepora prolifera Pallas, 1766: 307.

Lophelia prolifera . - Milne-Edwards and Haime 1850a: 81. - Cecchini 1917: 149. -Laborel 1970: 156. - Cairns 1979:125-127, pl. 24: figs 1-5. - Cairns 1982: 30-31, pl. 9: fig. 6. - Cairns 1991 a:17-18, pl. 6: fig. J.

Lophohelia prolifera . - Milne-Edwards and Haime 1857: 117. - Pourtalès 1871: 24-25, pl. 1, figs 3-5. - Duncan 1873: 328-332, pl. 42, figs 7-8. - Moseley 1881: 178-179, pl. 8, figs 7-8 (not Challenger-109). -Verrill 1883: 63-64. - Agassiz 1888: 151, fig. 472. -Jordon 1895: 25. -von Marenzeller 1904a: 307, pl. 15, figs 3, 3A. - Gourret 1906: 121, pl. 11, fig. 10, pl. 12, fig. 10A. - Gravier 1920: 87-89 (in part: not pl. 10, fig. 157). - Nobre 1931: 67-68, pl. 19-20.

Lophelia affinis Pourtalès, 1868: 135.

Lophohelia tubulosa Studer, 1878: 631, pl. 1, fig. 8A-E

Bathelia candida . -Jourdan 1895: 27.

Lophelia californica Durham, 1947: 36, pl. 1: figs 13, 16; pl. 2: fig. 11. - Cairns 1991: 17.

Dendrosmilia nomlandi . -Durham and Barnard 1952: 85, pl. 10: fig. 47. - Cairns 1979: 126. -Bythell 1986:16, pl. 10: fig. F.

Desmophyllum cristagalli . - Squires 1959a: 18-22 (in part: figs 8-10).

Lophelia pertusa . -Zibrowuis 1974b: 761, pl. 2, figs 6-9. -Zibrowuis 1980: 126-130, pl. 66, figs A-L. -Zibrowius and Gill 1990: 36-38. - Cairns and Keller 1993: 218. -Cairns 1994: 27-28: pl. 9. figs E-I. - Cairns 2000: 100-102.

Desmophyllum pertusum Addamo et al., 2016: 10-11, fig. 1A, B, D, E, fig. 3F-I.

Type locality.

Southern California, depth unknown (Cairns 1994 a).

Type material.

The type is presumed lost.

Material examined.

SAMC_A072974 (2 fragments): Western margin, 168 km off Paternoster / 173 km off Brak Estuary, 32°05'41.99"S, 16°19'47.99"E; 440 m. SAMC_A088910 (1 fragment): Southern margin, 92 km from Oubosstrand / 89 km off Tsitsikamma Estuary, 34°53'21.93"S, 24°06'56.47"E; 355 m. SAMC_A088911 (1 fragment): Southern margin, 92 km from Oubosstrand / 89 km off Tsitsikamma Estuary, 34°53'21.93"S, 24°06'56.47"E; 355 m. SAMC_A088912 (1 fragment): Southern margin, 92 km from Oubosstrand / 89 km off Tsitsikamma Estuary, 34°53'21.93"S, 24°06'56.47"E; 355 m. SAMC_A088914 (1 fragment): Southern margin, 92 km from Oubosstrand / 89 km off Tsitsikamma Estuary, 34°53'21.93"S, 24°06'56.47"E; 355 m. SAMC_A088915 (1 fragment): Western margin, 53 km from Saldanha / 80 km off Berg River V Estuary, 33°06'35.77"S, 17°23'01.26"E; 375 m. SAM_A090136 (1 specimen): Western margin, 162 km from Hondeklipbaai / 159 km off Spoeg Estuary, 31°10'25.80"S, 15°54'55.79"E; 434 m. SAM_H1605 (5 fragments): Western margin, 43 km off Melkbosstrand / 7 km off Dwars (North) Estuary, 33°24'39.01"S, 18°10'11.80"E; depth unknown. SAM_H1608 (6 fragments): Western margin, 13 km from Cape Town / 6 km off Diep Estuary, 33°52'59.66"S, 18°25'34.08"E; depth unknown. SAM_H3129 (8 fragments): Eastern margin, 30 km off Coffee Bay / 20 km off Bulungulu Estuary, 32°15'00.00"S, 29°09'06.00"E; 500-520 m.

Description.

Colony dendroid to bushy (branching pattern variable). Majority of budding intratentacular. Slender terminal branches bearing sympodially arranged corallites. Calicular size variable, reaching ≤ 15.6 × 9.0 mm in CD. Calice circular to elliptical (GCD:LCD = 1.0-1.3), with slightly serrated calicular margin. Peritheca finely granular, resulting in a smooth texture. Costae short and ridged, generally corresponding to primary septa. Corallum white.

Septa not arranged in regular systems nor cycles. Seven to nine slightly exsert primary septa extend deep into fossa. Secondary septa slightly less exsert and less wide than primaries, sometimes also extending deep into fossa. Tertiaries smaller than secondary septa, being rudimentary deep in fossa. Tertiaries sometimes missing in some systems. All septa with vertical and straight axial margins. Fossa deep and curved. Columella absent.

Distribution.

Regional: Western to eastern margin of South Africa, extending from off Clanwilliam extending towards Coffee Bay; 350-520 m. Elsewhere: Cosmopolitan in temperate and tropical waters (Zibrowius and Gill 1990; Cairns 2000), being common in the Atlantic and rarely collected off the Indo-Pacific (Cairns 1999b); 60-2170 m.

Remarks.

Recent molecular studies suggest that Lophelia is a synonym of Desmophyllum (Addamo et al. 2012, 2016). Such findings are demonstrated by the overwhelming genetic similarities between L. pertusa and D. dianthus, however, we recommend the sequencing of additional genes as a priority for future studies pertaining to this name change. Lophelia pertusa is one of the most well-known and studied azooxanthellate framework-building coral and was first reported in South African waters by Zibrowius and Gill (1990), who did not list locality data.