The black coral fauna (Cnidaria: Antipatharia) of Bermuda with new records
Author
Wagner, Daniel
Author
Shuler, Andrew
text
Zootaxa
2017
2017-11-07
4344
2
367
379
journal article
31608
10.11646/zootaxa.4344.2.11
eadc6621-31b2-41a1-b248-8bb38bd75d09
1175-5326
1042988
B1B682B2-C9F1-4CF9-B57F-CA45B1F87B46
Family
Myriopathidae Opresko, 2001
The family
Myriopathidae
is characterized by polyps with six primary and four secondary mesenteries that are 0.5– 1.0 mm in transverse diameter, and possess short tentacles with rounded tips. The skeletal spines of the
Myriopathidae
are usually needle-shaped on smaller branches, and frequently forked or antler-like on larger branches (
Bo, 2008
;
France
et al.
, 2007;
Opresko & Sanchez, 2005
; Opresko, 2001;) Two genera,
Cupressopathe
s and
Tanacetipathes
, have previously been reported from
Bermuda
(
Locke
et al.
, 2013
). However,
Cupressopathe
s was incorrectly reported from
Bermuda
due to an incorrect synonymization between
Antipathes gracilis
, which occurs throughout the Western Atlantic (
Opresko, 2009
;
Opresko & Sanchez, 2005
;
Warner, 2005
;
Padilla & Lara, 2003
;
Cairns
et al.
, 1993
;
Warner, 1981
), and
Cupressopathes gracilis
, which is only known from the Indo-Pacific (Opresko, 2001).
Tanacetipathes
is the only genus within the family
Myriopathidae
that is currently known from
Bermuda
, and was documented as part of this study as well (
Table 1
).