Caryophyllia calveri Duncan 1873

Caryophyllia calveri Duncan, 1873

(Figs. 2 F–H, M, tables 1−3)

Caryophyllia calveri Duncan, 1873: 316.—Zibrowius 1980: 57, pl. 21, figs. A–L.—Ramil Blanco & Fernández Pulpeiro 1990: 26.—Cairns & Chapman 2001: 34 (tab. 1).—Brito & Ocaña 2004: 374, pl. 80, figs. A–B.—Reveillaud et al. 2008: 322 (tab. 1), 325 (fig. 4).—Altuna 2010: 21.

Material examined. Le Danois Bank, 2008: Stn. D 6V, 555 m, two specimens alive, one of them broken, and six dead; Stn. S 6V, 555 m, one dead specimen; Stn. R1R 8, 677 m, one young specimen, dead. Avilés Canyon system: Stn. R 1, 500 m, three dead and eroded specimens. Galicia Bank: Stn. V 4, 732 m, one specimen alive and one dead; Stn. V 5, 877 m, three dead specimens, two of them epizoic on coral debris; Stn. V 6, 766 m, a dead specimen on Madrepora oculata; Stn. V 8, 780 m, one specimen.

Description. Corallum solitary, attached, pedicellate, turbinate or ceratoid with H= 1.21−2.63 cm. Pedicel normally straight, sometimes slightly curved. Basal plate well-developed. Wall almost fully costate; C1–C4 equal in width, with small granules; C1–C2 more prominent and ridged, sometimes also ornamented with delicate horizontal ridges close to the calicular margin; C3–C4 almost flat. Calices circular (GCD= 0.64−1.16 cm) or slightly polygonal. Septa normally 40, arranged according to the formula S1−2>S3≤S4, with 10 pali before S3 (10P3); S1 more exsert; S1 and S4 joined in the projection; S1 and S2 subequal in length, slightly longer than S3, and these, subequal with S4; S4 can be a little longer and larger than S3 as well. Inner edges of septa vertical, straight or slightly sinuous, with S3 sometimes thickened. Septal faces and pali bear small pointed granules; upper margin of septa smooth. Fossa shallow to moderately deep, containing a columella formed by a few twisted ribbons. Corallum light brown.

Remarks. The specimens from the Galicia Bank are small, with those from Le Danois Bank being more in accordance with previously published descriptions (see Zibrowius 1980). Some of them have a meaningful development of the basal plate (fig. 2F). Most corallites have 40 septa and 10 pali, although 42−48 septa and 11−12 pali for GCD>1.0 cm (stn. D 6V, stn. R1), or exceptionally for GCD= 0.79 cm (stn. S 6V) were observed. Septa are weakly exsert, in contrast with data from the literature (Kitahara et al. 2010). The fossa is normally shallow, and due to the relative sizes of septa, pali, and columella, it appears particularly ‘full’ of calicular elements. The specimen from stn. R1R8 is a juvenile (H= 0.61 cm; GCD= 0.2 cm) (fig. 2M). It has 26 septa, with five pali well developed and a sixth very small and rudimentary.

Caryophyllia calveri uses builder corals as substrate (stn. V5, V6), hence being associated with white coral banks as occurs in the Mediterranean (Zibrowius 1980). It is a coral widely distributed in the Mediterranean and north-eastern Atlantic, and was previously mentioned by Zibrowius (1980) from Le Danois Bank.