Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 June 2021 | 13(7): 18920–18924

 

ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print) 

https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.4640.13.7.18920-18924

#4640 | Received 31 October 2020 | Final received 15 May 2021 | Finally accepted 29 May 2021

 

 

 

A new distribution record of the Horn Coral Caryophyllia grandis Gardiner & Waugh, 1938 (Anthozoa: Scleractinia) from the Karnataka Coast, India

 

J.S. Yogesh Kumar 1  & C. Raghunathan 2

 

1 Zoological Survey of India, Sundarban Regional Centre, Canning, West Bengal 743329, India.

2 Zoological Survey of India, M-Block, New Alipore, Kolkata, West Bengal 700053, India.

1 yogeshkumarzsi16@gmail.com (corresponding author), 2 raghunathan.c@zsi.gov.in

 

 

 

Editor: A. Biju Kumar, University of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram, India.  Date of publication: 26 June 2021 (online & print)

 

Citation: Kumar, J.S.Y. & C. Raghunathan (2021). A new distribution record of the Horn Coral Caryophyllia grandis Gardiner & Waugh, 1938 (Anthozoa: Scleractinia) from the Karnataka Coast, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 13(7): 18920–18924. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.4640.13.7.18920-18924

 

Copyright: © Kumar & Raghunathan 2021. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.  JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproduction, and distribution of this article in any medium by providing adequate credit to the author(s) and the source of publication.

 

Funding: ZSI, MoEFCC (F.No. 323-1/2017/Tech./4807 Dated 26.03.2018) funded for

Dr. J. S. Yogesh Kumar, Scientist D (MARC).

 

Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

 

Acknowledgements: The authors thank to Dr. Stephen D. Cairns, Research Scientist, Department of Invertebrate Zoology, Smithsonian Institution, Washington for identification support. My sincere thanks to Director of Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata and Director of Centre for Marine Living Resources & Ecology (CMLRE), Kochi. Also, thanks to Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, and Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India. I thank the officers and crew of FORV Sagar Sampada (cruise No.374).

 

 

 

Abstract: Surveys were conducted under the project entitled “Resource exploration and Inventorisation of Deep Sea ecosystem & Marine ecosystem Dynamics: Sagar Sampada Cruise” by on-board FORV Sagar Sampada Cruise No. 374 from 2 April to 15 April 2018 from Okha to Cochin along the west coast of India.  The species Caryophyllia (Caryophyllia) grandis is recorded from a depth of 580m off Karwar, Karnataka and is reported herein as a new distribution record to the Karnataka coast, India.

 

Keywords: Azooxanthellate coral, Scleractinian coral, west coast.

 

 

Scleractinian corals are represented by 627 species in India of which 35 species are azooxanthellate coral, among them nine species belonging to the genus Caryophyllia Lamarck, 1801 (Mondal et al. 2016).  The genus Caryophyllia belongs to the family Caryophylliidae, order Scleractinia, suborder Hexacorallia, and commonly called azooxanthellate corals or deep-sea corals.  The family Caryophylliidae is one of the 40 presently recognized families of the order Scleractinia (WoRMS 2021) which globally includes more than 300 species belonging to 42 genera (Cairns 1999) of which 90% of azooxanthellate corals and 10% of zooxanthellate corals were reported around the world (Reyes et al. 2009).  In the Indian Ocean, 86 species belonging to the family Caryophylliidae have been reported by Cairns (1999).  Among them, 44 species of azooxanthellate corals were reported along the Indian coast (Venkataraman et al. 2003; Venkataraman 2006).  A total of 10 species of coral belonging to the genus Caryophyllia was reported from Indian waters, of which five species were reported by Alcock (1898) three species by Venkataraman (2007) and three species by Lazarus & Chandran (2016).  The present study gives a detailed description of the species Caryophyllia (Caryophyllia) grandis collected off Karwar, Karnataka coast, India.

 

Materials And Methods

The present survey was conducted from 2 to 15 April 2018, along the west coast from Okha (Gujarat) to Cochin (Kerala) by on-board the fisheries and oceanographic research vessel FORV Sagar Sampada Cruise No. 374.  The specimens examined in the present study were collected by a trawl fishing operation at about 580m depth off Karnataka (14.3760N, 73.0270E), west coast of India.  The specimens were examined and identified under a Leica M205 stereo-zoom microscope (Cairns & Kitahara 2012) and both examples photographed using a Nikon Coolpix W300 camera.  The voucher specimens are deposited in the National Zoological Collection, ZSI, MARC, Digha, Reg. No. C5498.

 

Results

A total of nine species belonging to the genus Caryophyllia has been reported from India (Table 1).  Among them, seven species were reported from the Andaman & Nicobar Islands, five species from Lakshadweep Islands, one species each off the Madras and Kerala coast.  Caryophyllia (Caryophyllia) grandis was observed for the first time from the Karwar coast, Karnataka, India.  A detailed description of this species is given below.

 

Systematic description 

Phylum Cnidaria Verrill, 1865

Class Anthozoa Ehrenberg, 1834

Subclass Hexacorallia Haeckel, 1896

Order Scleractinia Bourne, 1900

Suborder Caryophylliina Vaughan & Wells, 1943

Family Caryophylliidae Dana, 1846

Genus Caryophyllia Lamarck, 1801

Caryophyllia (Caryophyllia) grandis Gardiner & Waugh, 1938 (Image 1 & 2).

Common Name: Horn Coral

Materials examined: Reg. No. C5498, two samples from soft clay and fine sand bottom, off Karwar coast (14.3760N, 73.0270E) Karnataka, west coast of India, Arabian Sea at 580m depth; coll. J.S. Yogesh Kumar.

Diagnosis: Both specimens are curved horn-shaped and free-living.  One large specimen corallum is 38mm in size of Greater Calicular Diameter (GCD) and the average height of the corallum is 35mm.  The septa are arranged hexamerally in five complete cycles (S1–S5); however, one large specimen 38mm GCD has 24 primary septa and a total of 96 septa (Image 2A left).  The second specimen 33mm GCD has 22 primary septa and a total of 88 septa (Image 2A right).  The septa S3 are slightly less exsert than primary septa (S1) and a total 24 and 22 paliform lobes are in both specimens, respectively.  The paliform are narrower than S4 and border form a crown circling a fascicular columella.  The columellar are composed of broad and twisted elements in the centre part of the corallites.

Type locality: West side of Fadiffolu Atoll, Maldive Islands at 494m depth (14.9780N, 73.2730E) Reg. No. BM1950.1.9.211-225 (Cairns & Zibrowius 1997; Kitahara et al. 2010)

Distribution: Maldive (494m), western Australia (399–431 m), Indonesia (251–567 m); South Africa to western Sumatra (183–595 m).

Taxonomical Reference: Veron (1986); Cairns & Keller (1993); Cairns & Zibrowius (1997); Cairns et al. (1999); Kitahara et al. (2010).

Remark: Caryophyllia (Caryophyllia) grandis is closely related to Caryophyllia (Caryophyllia) ambrosia Alcock, 2007 (Laccadive, 1,000–1,070 fms).

 

Discussion

 

Azooxanthellate corals are reported from deep water and dark environments (Dinesen 1982, 1983).  Nearly 34 species of azooxanthellate corals are known from the seas around the Indian waters (Turner et al. 2001).  Venkataraman (2007) reported updated checklist of azooxanthellate corals from the Indian coast.  Recently, Lazarus & Chandran (2016) listed a total of 34 species belonging to 17 genera, four families from the Indian coast; of which 20 species were reported from the Andaman & Nicobar Islands, 13 species from the Gulf of Mannar, 12 species from the south-west coast of India, four species each from the Gulf of Kachchh, Lakshadweep, and 3 species from the mid-west coast (Goa).  The species Caryophyllia (Caryophyllia) grandis was excluded in the updated list of azooxanthellate corals from the Indian coast (Lazarus & Chandran 2016).

In India, a total of nine species of coral belonging to the genus Caryophyllia were reported (Alcock 1898; Venkataraman 2007; Lazarus & Chandran 2016).  The species name verified in the WoRMS database, of which seven species status showed accepted and two species synonymised (Table 1).  The present study reported Caryophyllia (Caryophyllia) grandis azooxanthellate coral from Karwar, west coast of India and close to type locality Maldives (Image 1).  The species was first described by Gardiner & Waugh (1938) from the Maldives at 494m depth followed by this species was reported from Australia at 431m depth, Indonesia at 567m depth, and South Africa to Western Sumatra at 595m depth (Cairns 1991; Cairns & Keller 1993; Cairns & Zibrowius 1997; Cairns 1998, 1999, 2004).  Kitahara et al. (2010) reported the same species from Australian waters, and the size of the corallum is 50mm GCD and curved.  The upper theca was white and the lower theca was discoloured.  The present reported species, corallum is 39–40 mm in size, horn-shaped and lower thecas are pale white.  The species Caryophyllia (Caryophyllia) grandis is the first distribution report from off Karwar coast, Karnataka, India.

 

Table 1. List of the species under the genus Caryophyllia Lamarck, 1801 as per the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS).

 

 

Reported name of the species

AN

LAK

KL

TN

KN

Ref.

Status

 

Family Caryophyllidae Dana, 1846

Genus Caryophyllia Lamarck, 1801

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1.

Caryophyllia (Acanthocyathus) grayi (Milne Edwards & Haime, 1848)

*

 

 

 

 

I

Accepted

2.

Caryophyllia (Caryophyllia) ambrosia Alcock, 1898

 

*

 

 

 

II

Accepted

3.

Caryophyllia (Caryophyllia) clavus Scacchi, 1835

Accepted name:

Caryophyllia (Caryophyllia) smithii Stokes & Broderip, 1828

*

*

 

 

 

III

Synonymised

4.

Caryophyllia (Caryophyllia) ephyala Alcock, 1891

*

*

 

 

 

II

Accepted

5.

Caryophyllia (Caryophyllia) grandis Gardiner & Waugh, 1938

+

+

 

 

**

I

Accepted

6.

Caryophyllia (Caryophyllia) paradoxus Alcock, 1898

 

 

*

 

 

II

Accepted

7.

Caryophyllia arcuata Milne Edwards & Haime, 1848

*

*

 

 

 

I, III

Accepted

8.

Caryophyllia communis (Seguenza, 1863)

(fossil species)

*

 

 

 

 

II

Accepted

9.

Caryophyllia scillaeomorpha Alcock, 1894

Accepted name:

Caryophyllia (Caryophyllia) ambrosia Alcock, 1898

 

 

 

*

 

II

Synonymised

*—Reported | **—present study report | +—doubtful | AN—Andaman & Nicobar | LAK—Lakshadweep | KL—Kerala | TN—Tamil Nadu | KN—Karnataka | Ref.—Reference | I—Venkataraman (2007) | II—Alcock (1898) | III—Lazarus & Chandran (2016).

 

For images - - click here

 

 

References

Alcock, A. (1898). An account of the deepsea Madreporaria collected by the Royal Indian Marine Survey Ship Investigator. Indian Museum, Calcutta, 29pp.

Cairns, S.D. & M.V. Kitahara (2012). An illustrated key to the genera and subgenera of the recent azooxanthellate Scleractinia (Cnidaria, Anthozoa), with an attached glossary. Zookey 227: 1–47.

Cairns, S.D. & N.B. Keller (1993). New taxa distributional records of Azooxanthellate Scleractinia (Cnidaria: Anthozoa) from the tropical southwest Indian Ocean, with comments on their zoogeography and ecology. Annals of the South African Museum 103: 213–292. 

Cairns, S.D. & H. Zibrowius (1997). Cnidaria Anthozoa: Azooxanthellate Scleractinia from the Philippine and Indonesian regions. Memoires du Museum National D Histoire Naturelle 172: 27–243.

Cairns, S.D. (1991). A revision of the ahermatypic Scleractinia of the Galapagos and Cocos Islands. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 504: 1–44. 

Cairns, S.D. (1998). Azooxanthellate Scleractinia (Cnidaria: Anthozoa) of western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum 18: 361–417. 

Cairns, S.D. (1999). Cnidaria Anthozoa: Deep-water azooxanthellate Scleractinia from Vanuatu, and Wallis and Futuna Islands. Memoires du Museum National d’ Histoire Naturelle 180: 31–167. 

Cairns, S.D. (2004). The azooxanthellate Scleractinia (Coelenterata: Anthozoa) of Australia. Records of the Australian Museum 56: 259–329.

Cairns, S.D. & N.B. Keller (1993). New taxa and distributional records of azooxanthellata Scleractinia (Cnidaria, Anthozoa) from the tropical south-west Indian Ocean, with comments on their zoogeography and ecology. Annal of the South African Museum 103(5): 213–292.

Cairns, S.D. & H. Zibrowius (1997). Cnidaria Anthozoa: Azooxanthellate Scleractinia from the Philippine and Indonesian Region. Memoires du Museum National d’ Histoire Naturelle 172(2): 27–243.

Cairns, S.D., V. Haussermann & G. Forsterra (2005). A review of the Scleractinia (Cnidaria: Anthozoa) of Chile, with the description of two new species. Zootaxa 1018: 15–46.

Chairs, S.D. (1999). Cnidaria: Anthozoa: deep-water azooxanthellate Scleractinia from Vanuatu and Wallis and Futuna Island. Memoires du Museum National d Histoire Naturelle 31–167pp. 

Dinesen, Z.D. (1982). Regional variation in shade-dwelling coral assemblages of the Great Barrier Reef Province. Marine Ecology - Progress Series 7: 117–123.

Dinesen, Z.D. (1983). Shade-dwelling corals of the Great Barrier Reef. Marine Ecology - Progress Series 10: 173–185.

Gardiner, J.S. & P. Waugh (1938). The flabellid and turbinolid corals. The John Murray Expedition 1933–34. Scientific Report 5: 167–202.

Kitahara, V.M., S.D. Cairns & D.J. Miller (2010). Monophyletic origin of Caryophyllia (Scleractinia, Caryophylliidae) with descriptions of six new species. Systematics and Biodiversity 8(1): 91–118.

Lazarus, S. & R. Chandran (2016). Occurrence of azooxanthellate scleractinian corals off Goa, mid-west coast of India. Marine Biodiversity Records 9: 78.

Mondal, T., C. Raghunathan & K. Chandra (2016). Scleractinian corals of India: Diversity, distribution, significance and threats, pp. 146–180. Chandra, K., C. Raghunathan, T. Mondal & S. Dash (eds.). Current Status of Marine Faunal Diversity in India. Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, 525pp.

Reyes, J., N. Santodomingo & S. Cairns (2009). Caryophylliidae (Scleractinia) from the Colombian Caribbean. Zootaxa  2262: 1–39.

Turner, J.R., D. Vousden, R. Klaus, C. Satyanarayana, D. Fenner, K. Venkataraman, P.T. Rajan & N.V.S. Rao (2001). Report of Phase I: Remote sensing and Rapid site assessment survey, April 2001. Coral Reef ecosystem of the Andaman Islands. GOI/UNDPGEF, Publ. Director, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, India, 76pp.

Venkataraman, K. (2007). Azooxanthellate hard corals (Scleractinia) from India. Bulletin of Marine Science 209–214pp.

Venkataraman, K. (2006). Coral reefs in India- National Biodiversity Authority, Chennai, pp. 1–18. Venkataraman, K., C. Satyanarayana, J.R.B. Alfred & J. Wolstenholme (2003). Hand Book Hard Corals of India. Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, India, 266pp.

Veron,  J.E.N. (1986). Corals of Australia and the Indo-Pacific. many unnumbered figs. North Ryde [Sydney]: Angus and Robertson, xii+644pp.

WoRMS (2021). Scleractinia. Accessed at: http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=1363 on 15 May 2021 .