Cladiella pachyclados ( Klunzinger, 1877 )

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 : 59-62

Cladiella pachyclados ( Klunzinger, 1877)

( Figs. 41B , 44 & 45 )

Alcyonium pachyclados Klunzinger, 1877: 24 , Fig. 5 .

? Alcyonium pachyclados ; May 1899: 106 (Zanzibar; Philippines); Hickson 1900: 503 .

? Alcyonium pachyclados ; Hickson 1902: 72; Pratt 1903: 534; Pratt 1905: 258; Thomson & Henderson 1906: 416, ( Zanzibar); Cohn 1908: 235 ( Madagascar); Kükenthal 1910: 34; Thomson 1910: 570, pl. 2, Fig. 14 ; pl. 4, Fig. 33 & 34 ( South Africa); Lüttschwager 1914: 20–22 (Indo-Pacific); Lüttschwager 1922: 522, pl. 1, Fig. 1 ( Philippines (; Hickson 1930: 219 ( Annam, Vietnam); Thomson & Dean 1931: 40 ( Indonesia); Roxas 1933: 357 ( Philippines).

Microspicularia pachyclados ; Macfadyen 1936: 29.

? Lobularia pachyclados ; Tixier-Durivault 1944: 340–341 (Red Sea); Tixier-Durivault 1948: 219–225, Figs. 215–220.

? Cladiella pachyclados ; Utinomi 1959: 308 (Taiwan); Tixier-Durivault, 1966: 50, Fig. 30 (Tongatapu, Tonga); Tixier-Durivault, 1970a: 202 ( New Caledonia); Verseveldt 1971: 9–10, Fig. 4 ( Madagascar); Benayahu, 1997: 210–212 ( Guam); Rao & K. Devi 2003: 13 & 14, Fig. 7 (Little Andaman, India); Vibha et al. 2015: 1787–1789: Figs. 2–8 (Port Blair, Andaman, Nicobar Islands);

? Cladiella pachyclados ; Tixier-Durivault, 1972: 58 ( Madagascar listed only); Verseveldt 1974: 95 ( New Caledonia listed only); Benayahu & Loya 1977: 372 (Eilat, Red Sea listed only); Verseveldt, 1977: 3 ( American Samoa listed only); 1978: 49 ( Guam listed only); van Ofwegen, & Vennam 1994: 136 ( Ambon, Indonesia listed only); Benayahu 1995: 106 (Ryukyu Islands, Japan listed only); Fabricius 1995: 151 (Heron Island, Australia listed only); Imahara 1996: (Ryukyu Islands, Japan listed only); van Ofwegen 1996: 207 (Laing Island, Bismarck Sea listed only); Vennam & van Ofwegen 1996: 438 ( Laccadive listed only); Iha & Yoshino 1997: 93 (Ryukyu Islands, Japan listed only); Benayahu 2002: 13–14 (Ryukyu Islands, Japan listed only); Benayahu et al. 2003: 55 ( Mozambique listed only); Benayahu, et.al. 2004: 550 ( Taiwan listed only); Fabricius & McCorry 2006: 29 ( Hong Kong listed only); van Ofwegen 2007: 141 ( New Caledonia listed only); Latypov & Selin 2008: 147 ( Vietnam listed only); McFadden et al. 2011: 25 ( Israel, Eilat listed only), Benayahu et al. 2012: 1532 (Penghu Archipelago, Taiwan listed only); Padmakumar & Chandran, 2012: 62 (Little Andaman listed only); Seah et al. 2015: 302 ( Singapore listed only); Benayahu et al. 2018: 4 (Dongsha Atoll, Taiwan listed only); Schleyer et al. 2019: 2487 (Europa Is., France listed only).

Not Alcyonium pachyclados ; Stiasny 1937: 392.

Material examined. Holotype. ZMB CNI 1874 , Koseir (= El Quseir), on the slope of the coral cliff, Red Sea, 1872, coll. Klunzinger.

Description. The holotype is an encrusting colony, 120 mm long and 66 mm wide ( Fig. 41B ). The digitiform lobes are densely set, with some lobes divided into conical lobules and the partly retracted polyps appearing on their surface.

The sclerome of the polyps are various platelets featuring some figure-eights and rod-like ones, 0.04–0.08 mm long, commonly with an irregular lateral outline ( Fig. 44A ). Their surface has a tuberculate texture and is occasionally associated with a cristate-like one. The surface layer of the lobes comprises poorly developed dumbbells, 0.07–0.09 mm long, ornamented with rounded and blunt-ended conical tubercles ( Fig. 44B ). The dumbbells from the interior of the lobes are 0.07–0.12 mm long, mostly with blunt-ended conical and some rounded tubercles, separated by a bare waist 0.02–0.04 mm wide and 0.01–0.03 mm long ( Fig. 44C ). The sclerites of the surface layer of the colony base comprise poorly developed dumbbells, 0.06–0.08 mm long, with blunt-ended conical tubercles ( Fig. 45A ). The dumbbells from the interior of the base are 0.09–0.11 mm long, with both blunt-ended conical and few pointed tubercles ( Fig. 45B ). These sclerites feature a bare waist, 0.02–0.04 mm wide, and 0.01–0.02 mm long.

Color. The ethanol-preserved holotype is light beige-cream.

Remarks. The original description of the holotype of C. pachyclados depicted the colony and a few sclerite drawings ( Klunzinger 1877: Fig. 5 ). The polyp sclerome, comprising a variety of platelets ornamented with a tuberculate surface texture, is suggested to be diagnostic of the species along with the large dumbbells from the colony lobe and base (0.11–0.12 mm long). Despite the numerous biogeographical records of this species, to date no study had re-examined the type colony since its original description. Similarly, the revision of the genus Lobularia by Tixier-Durivault (1948: 219–225, Figs. 215–220) did not re-examine the type material but rather described a colony collected from the Red Sea in 1844 by Portier (Fig. 215).

All the listed records of C. pachyclados throughout the Indo-Pacific (references above) need to be re-examined in order to validate their assignment and potentially confirm a wide biogeographic distribution of the species beyond the Red Sea.

Distribution. Red Sea.

Figures

FIGURE 1. A–C. Cladiella colonies on the reef flat of Eilat (northern Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea). Note that Cladiella colonies appear light brown–beige when the polyps are extended and gray when they are retracted.

FIGURE 2. Images of Cladiella type colonies.A. Cladiella arbusculoides Verseveldt & Benayahu, 1978, holotype, SMNHTAU_ Co_13272. B. Cladiella bottai (Tixier-Durivault, 1943), holotype, MNHN-IK-2000-25. C. Cladiella brachyclados (Ehrenberg, 1834), syntype, ZMB Cni 303. D. Cladiella crassa (Tixier-Durivault, 1943), syntype, MNHN-IK-2000-377. E. Cladiella dollfusi (Tixier-Durivault, 1943), syntype, MNHN-IK-2000-378. F. Cladiella echinata (Tixier-Durivault, 1941), syntype, MNHN-IK- 2000-28.

FIGURE 3. Cladiella arbusculoides Verseveldt & Benayahu, 1978, holotype, SMNHTAU_Co_13272. Scanning electron micrographs of colony top sclerites.A. Polyp sclerites.B. Poorly developed dumbbells of the surface layer of lobes.C. Dumbbells from the interior lobes.

FIGURE 4. Cladiella arbusculoides Verseveldt & Benayahu, 1978, holotype, SMNHTAU_Co_13272. Scanning electron micrographs of colony base sclerites. A. Poorly developed dumbbells of the surface layer of base. B. Dumbbells from the interior base.

FIGURE 5. Cladiella bottai (Tixier-Durivault, 1943), holotype, MNHN-IK-2000-25. Scanning electron micrographs of colony top sclerites. A. Polyp sclerites. B. Poorly developed dumbbells of the surface layer of lobes. C. Dumbbells from the interior lobes.

FIGURE 6. Cladiella bottai (Tixier-Durivault, 1943), holotype, MNHN-IK-2000-25. Scanning electron micrographs of dumbbell sclerites from the interior base.

FIGURE 7. Cladiella brachyclados (Ehrenberg, 1834), syntype, ZMB Cni 303. Scanning electron micrographs of sclerites of the colony top. A. Polyp sclerites. B. Poorly developed dumbbells of the surface layer of lobes. C. Dumbbells from the interior of lobes.

FIGURE 8. Cladiella brachyclados (Ehrenberg, 1834), syntype, ZMB Cni 303. Scanning electron micrographs of colony base sclerites.A. Poorly developed dumbbells of the surface layer of the base. B. Dumbbells from the interior of the base.

FIGURE 14. Cladiella echinata (Tixier-Durivault, 1941), syntype, MNHN-IK-2000-28. Scanning electron micrographs of the colony base sclerites. A. Poorly developed dumbbells of the surface of the base. B. Dumbbells from the interior of the base.

FIGURE 30. Cladiella irregularis (Tixier-Durivault, 1944), syntype, MNHN-IK-2000-384. Scanning electron micrographs of colony base sclerites. A. Poorly developed dumbbells of the base surface. B. Dumbbells from the interior of the base.

FIGURE 33. Cladiella laciniosa (Tixier-Durivault, 1944), syntype, MNHN-IK-2000-386. Scanning electron micrographs of sclerites of the colony top. A. Polyp sclerites. B. Poorly developed dumbbells of the surface layer of the lobes. C. Dumbbells from the interior of the lobes.

FIGURE 34. Cladiella laciniosa (Tixier-Durivault, 1944), syntype, MNHN-IK-2000-386. Scanning electron micrographs of colony base sclerites. A. Poorly developed dumbbells of the surface of the base. B. Dumbbells from the interior of the base.

FIGURE 41. Images of Cladiella type colonies. A. Cladiella minuta (Tixier-Durivault, 1944), holotype, MNHN-IK-2000- 34. B. Cladiella pachyclados (Klunzinger, 1877), holotype, ZMB CNI 1874. C. Cladiella prattae (Tixier-Durivault, 1944), syntype, MNHN-IK-2000-398. D. Cladiella sphaerophora (Ehrenberg, 1834), holotype, ZMB Cni 294. E. Cladiella studeri (Tixier-Durivault, 1944), syntype, MNHN-IK-2000-390. F. Cladiella suezensis (Tixier-Durivault, 1944), syntype, MNHN-IK- 2000-41.

FIGURE 44. Cladiella pachyclados (Klunzinger, 1877), holotype, ZMB CNI 1874. Scanning electron micrographs of sclerites of the colony top. A. Polyp sclerites. B. Poorly developed dumbbells of the surface of the lobes. C. Dumbbells from the interior of the lobes.

FIGURE 45. Cladiella pachyclados (Klunzinger, 1877), holotype, ZMB CNI 1874. Scanning electron micrographs of sclerites of the colony base. A. Poorly developed dumbbells of the surface of the base. B. Dumbbells from the interior of the base.