Cladiella tenuis (Tixier-Durivault, 1944)

Lazar, Einav, Mcfadden, Catherine S., Huchon, Dorothée & Benayahu, Yehuda, 2025, Redescription of type material of the genus Cladiella Gray, 1869 (Octocorallia, Malacalcyonacea, Cladiellidae) from the Red Sea, Zootaxa 5674 (1), pp. 1-84 : 72-73

publication ID	https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5674.1.1
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:FF8F0124-E9C0-45E0-9989-C0B74BF11036
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.16982521
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/039787D2-FC1F-FF99-EDA9-FF198D8BE25A
treatment provided by	Plazi
scientific name	Cladiella tenuis (Tixier-Durivault, 1944)
status

Treatment

Cladiella tenuis (Tixier-Durivault, 1944) View in CoL

( Figs. 54A View FIGURE 54 , 55 View FIGURE 55 & 56 View FIGURE 56 )

Lobularia tenuis Tixier-Durivault, 1944b: 345 View in CoL ; Tixier-Durivault 1948: 25–29, Figs. 11–14 View FIGURE 11 View FIGURE 12 View FIGURE 14 .

Material examined. Holotype. MNHN-IK-2000-391, 3 fragments, Red Sea, 1844, coll. M. Portier.

Description. The holotype consists of three fragments of an encrusting colony with a maximum cross-section of 100 x 85 mm, 109 x 70 mm, and 79 x 48 mm respectively ( Fig. 54A View FIGURE 54 ). Their knob-like lobes are arranged in groups with empty spaces between them. The retracted polyps appear as small pits on the lobe surface.

The sclerome of the polyps comprises platelets and some rods, 0.03–0.05 mm long ( Fig. 55A View FIGURE 55 ). Their surface has a combined tuberculate and cristate-like texture. Some of the platelets feature a central depression surrounded by an irregular rim.

The sclerites of the surface of the lobes comprise poorly developed dumbbells, 0.04–0.07 mm long, mostly with rounded tubercles ( Fig. 55B View FIGURE 55 ). The dumbbells from the interior of the lobes are 0.05–0.07 mm long, featuring blunt-ended and rounded tubercles separated by a bare waist, 0.01–0.03 mm wide and 0.01–0.02 mm long ( Fig. 55C View FIGURE 55 ). The surface of the colony base comprises poorly developed dumbbells, 0.04–0.07 mm long, featuring rounded and blunt-ended conical tubercles ( Fig. 56A View FIGURE 56 ). The interior of the colony base features dumbbells, 0.07–0.09 mm long, with blunt-ended conical and some rounded tubercles separated by a bare waist, 0.02–0.03 mm wide and 0.01–0.02 mm long ( Fig. 56B View FIGURE 56 ).

Color. The dry holotype is beige-brown.

Remarks. The initial species assignment of L. tenuis ( Tixier-Durivault 1944b: 345) did not depict the morphological characters of the syntype colony. These were subsequently presented in the revision of the genus ( Tixier-Durivault 1948: 25–29, Figs. 11–14 View FIGURE 11 View FIGURE 12 View FIGURE 14 ). This species is characterized by its relatively short and massively tuberculate dumbbells, up to 0.09 mm, in the interior of the colony base. None of the sclerite drawings in Tixier-Durivault (1948) depict those of the polyps. For the rest, the current findings regarding both the colony morphology and its sclerites correspond to Tixier-Durivault’s (1948) amended description. No details are provided regarding the exact locality in the Red Sea where the holotype was collected.

Distribution. Red Sea.