First record of the deep sea species Thesea talismani Grasshoff, 1986 (Anthozoa: Octocorallia: Plexauridae) off Mauritania (NW Africa)
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1
Universidad de Vigo, Departamento de Ecología y Biología Animal, Spain
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2
Instituto Español de Oceanografía, Centro Oceanográfico de Vigo, Spain
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3
Universidade dos Açores & Centro de Ciências do Mar e do Ambiente, Departamento de Oceanografia e Pescas, Portugal
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4
Senckenberg am Meer, Abteilung Meeresforschung, Germany
The sea fan Thesea talismani is a rare deep sea species that was previously only known from the type material, namely one fragment of a colony designated as holotype, which was collected at 956 m depth off Larache (Morocco), and one colony 12 cm height designated as paratype, captured at 888 m off Cap Barbas (Western Sahara) (Grasshoff, 1986).
We report here the species for the first time after its original description, based on some specimens captured during the Spanish Maurit surveys and the German cruise MSM16/3, both carried out in waters off Mauritania by the years 2009 and 2010.
The samples were collected with a beam trawl and a rock dredge during the Spanish Maurit-0911 and Maurit-1011 surveys, and with a grab, a box corer and also directly with a Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) during the German cruise MSM16/3. High resolution images, both photography and video recording were also obtained by the ROV.
The species was collected between 462 and 1090 m depth and seems associated to coral carbonate mounds and canyon habitats.
Our colonies mostly agree with the original description although some intraspecific differences were observed. Most of the colonies match with the type material in size (10–15 cm) and in the ramification pattern with branches up to the second order. In addition, some simple, unbranched colonies were also collected, one of them reaching 30 cm with the distal part devoid of coenenchyme. Sclerite types are similar to those described for the type material although coenenchyme sclerites distribution and abundance vary between the different colonies.
References
Grasshoff, M. 1986. Die Gorgonaria der Expeditionen von Travailleur 1880-1882 und Talisman 1883 (Cnidaria, Anthozoa). Bulletin du Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris, (4) 8 (A 1): 9-38.
Keywords:
Cnidaria,
Octocorallia,
sea fan,
NW Africa,
Mauritania,
deep-sea
Conference:
XIX Iberian Symposium on Marine Biology Studies, Porto, Portugal, 5 Sep - 9 Sep, 2016.
Presentation Type:
Poster Presentation
Topic:
1. ECOLOGY, BIODIVERSITY AND VULNERABLE ECOSYSTEMS
Citation:
Soto De Matos-Pita
S,
Sampaio
I,
Castillo Oñate
S,
Freiwald
A and
Ramil
F
(2016). First record of the deep sea species Thesea talismani Grasshoff, 1986 (Anthozoa: Octocorallia: Plexauridae) off Mauritania (NW Africa).
Front. Mar. Sci.
Conference Abstract:
XIX Iberian Symposium on Marine Biology Studies.
doi: 10.3389/conf.FMARS.2016.05.00125
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Received:
30 Apr 2016;
Published Online:
03 Sep 2016.
*
Correspondence:
Dr. Susana Soto De Matos-Pita, Universidad de Vigo, Departamento de Ecología y Biología Animal, Vigo, Pontevedra, 36310, Spain, soto@uvigo.es