Parasphaerasclera grayi Thomson & Dean 1931

• Published in: Postgraduate Medical Journal
• Main Authors: Bryce, Monika, Poliseno, Angelo, Alderslade, Philip, Vargas, Sergio
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: unknown
• Published: Zenodo 2015
• Subjects: Biodiversity; Taxonomy; Animalia; Cnidaria; Anthozoa; Alcyonacea; Parasphaerascleridae; Parasphaerasclera; Parasphaerasclera grayi; White Island; Black Rocks
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3510616; http://treatment.plazi.org/id/03B687F9A45CFFE017DB50F44FB6FAFB

Parasphaerasclera grayi (Thomson & Dean, 1931) new record (Figs. 2A,B, 3, 4; Tabs. 1, 2) Nidalia grayi Thomson & Dean, 1931: 37, Pl. 2, Fig. 2. Eleutherobia grayi Verseveldt & Bayer 1988: 33 –34, Figs. 24, 25; Williams 2001: 210–216, Figs. 1–10. Benayahu et al. 2004: 550 (recorded only); Dautova & Savinkin 2009: 4 –10, Figs. 3–7. Parasphaerasclera grayi McFadden & Ofwegen 2013: 70, 71, 78. Material examined. WAM Z54774, six whole specimens, Station 69/K11, unnamed outcrop NW Black Rocks, close to White Island, NW Australia, 14.9741° S, 124.3974° E, SCUBA, depth 12 m, coll. M. Bryce, 17 October 2011. Description . In total six upright, unbranched colonies were collected. They are digitiform, symmetrical with a wide base tapering distally towards the rounded apex of the polyparium (Fig. 2A,B) and were always growing in pairs, arising from a common, polyp-free, one mm thick, encrusting holdfast. The colonies vary in size, but are in general very similar in shape, colour, arrangement of polyps and sclerite composition. The polyp-free basal portion of each colony is very short and occupies only 10 % of the total colony length. Polyps are monomorphic, large, retractile, quite numerous, evenly distributed over the colony and are translucent when fully extended and the coenenchymal mounds associated with the polyps are narrow. Pair one consists of one colony that is 31 mm in total length, with an apex 4 mm in diameter and a base 10 mm in diameter, together with a smaller colony that is 5 mm in total length with an apex 4 mm in diameter and a base 9 mm in diameter. Pair two consists of one colony that is 25 mm in total length, with an apex 5 mm in diameter and a base 10 mm in diameter, together with a smaller colony that is 13 mm in total length with an apex 3 mm in diameter and a base 6 mm in diameter. Pair three consists of one colony that is 19 mm in total length, with an apex 5 mm in diameter and a base 8 mm in diameter, together with a smaller colony that is 9 mm in total length with an apex 5 mm ...