Cladiella minuta (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 : 57-59

publication ID	https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5674.1.1
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:FF8F0124-E9C0-45E0-9989-C0B74BF11036
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/039787D2-FC60-FFEB-EDA9-FF198E34E764
treatment provided by	Plazi
scientific name	Cladiella minuta (Tixier-Durivault, 1944)
status

Treatment

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

( Figs. 41A View FIGURE 41 , 42 View FIGURE 42 & 43 View FIGURE 43 )

Lobularia minuta Tixier-Durivault, 1944b: 339-340 View in CoL ; Tixier-Durivault 1948: 21–25, Figs. 7–10 View FIGURE 7 View FIGURE 8 View FIGURE 9 View FIGURE 10 . Material examined. Holotype. MNHN-IK-2000-0034, Gulf of Suez, Red Sea.

Description. The holotype is a colony with a maximum cross-section of 70 x 30 mm and its small lobes are closely set ( Fig. 41A View FIGURE 41 ). The tentacles of the polyps appear on the surface of the rounded lobes.

No polyp sclerites were found in the examined fragment. The surface layer of the lobe features poorly developed dumbbells, 0.04–0.06 mm long ( Fig. 42A View FIGURE 42 ). Their surface has a rounded and cone-shaped tuberculate texture. The sclerites of the interior of the lobes are dumbbells, 0.05–0.08 mm long, separated by a bare waist, 0.01–0.02 mm wide and 0.01–0.02 mm long ( Fig. 42B View FIGURE 42 ). Each end distinctly features pointed and blunt-ended conical tubercles. There are no sclerites on the surface layer of the base. The interior features dumbbells, 0.05–0.08 mm long, with pointed conical tubercles, separated by a bare waist, up to 0.02 mm wide and 0.01–0.02 mm long ( Fig. 43 View FIGURE 43 ).

Color. The ethanol preserved holotype MNHN-IK-2000-0034 is beige.

Remarks. The initial species assignment of L. minuta by Tixier-Durivault 1944b: 339–440) did not depict the morphological characters of the holotype. They were subsequently presented in the revision of the genus ( Tixier-Durivault 1948: 21–25, Figs. 7–10 View FIGURE 7 View FIGURE 8 View FIGURE 9 View FIGURE 10 ). The current study did not find any polyp sclerites, although a very few such sclerites were depicted in the Tixier-Durivault description. Such a discrepancy might be a result from the rarity of such sclerites which could not be detected in the examined fragment of the current study. This species is also characterized by a lack of sclerites in the surface layer of the colony base. In addition, its dumbbells feature mostly pointed conical tubercles, and the dumbbells from the base interior are short, up to 0.08 mm long. The two latter morphological characters are suggested to be diagnostic of this species. The exact location in the Red Sea where the type was collected was not given in the original description.

Distribution. Gulf of Suez (Red Sea).