Lophelia pertusa

• Main Authors: Reyes, Javier, Santodomingo, Nadiezhda, Cairns, Stephen
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: unknown
• Published: Zenodo 2009
• Subjects: Biodiversity; Taxonomy; Animalia; Cnidaria; Anthozoa; Scleractinia; Caryophylliidae; Lophelia; Lophelia pertusa
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5313891; http://treatment.plazi.org/id/4B4287D6FF83DC39A187FA6BFCA9FBAD

Lophelia pertusa (Linnaeus, 1758) Fig. 4A Madrepora pertusa Linnaeus, 1758: 797. Madrepora prolifera Pallas, 1766: 307. Lophelia prolifera Cairns, 1979: 125–127, pl. 24, figs. 1–5, Map 34 (description and synonymy); 1981: 10.— Viada & Cairns, 1987: 132.— Zibrowius, 1988: 136 (listed).—Prahl & Erhardt, 1989: 547.— Cairns et al. , 1991: 47 (listed).— Cairns et al. , 1994: 4 (listed). Lophelia pertusa Zibrowius, 1980: 126–130, pl. 66, figs. A–L (description and synonymy).—Cairns, 1994: 27–28, pl. 9, figs. e–i.—Lattig, 2000: 131–132, fig. 71.— Kitahara, 2007: 502–503, fig. 4A–B. Remarks: L. pertusa is the principal azooxanthellate coral builder of deep-sea bioherms in the Atlantic, reaching the major development in the northeastern Atlantic off the Norwegian coast (Reed 2002). In Colombia, only fossil specimens have been collected off La Guajira, suggesting that L. pertusa may have built bioherms in the past, although it is also possible that living assemblages of Lophelia could occur at deeper surrounding areas. Further studies should be done in order to establish the actual status of their populations in Colombian waters. Our specimens present a thin and slender skeleton. Distribution: Worldwide distribution, from the equator to the sub-polar regions, more abundant in the North hemisphere; from 40 to 3000 m depth (e.g. Freiwald & Roberts 2005). In Colombia, L. pertusa is only known in the northeastern coast, off Honda Bay and off Carrizal Point, both located in the surrounding areas of the Rancheria Canyon; from 300 to 450 m depth. Material: USNM 46016, P-776; INV CNI 396, 5 colony fragments, E10; INV CNI 397, 3 colony fragments, E10; INV CNI 723, 1 colony fragment, E91. Published as part of Reyes, Javier, Santodomingo, Nadiezhda & Cairns, Stephen, 2009, Caryophylliidae (Scleractinia) from the Colombian Caribbean, pp. 1-39 in Zootaxa 2262 (1) on pages 21-22, DOI:10.11646/zootaxa.2262.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/5306371