Narella horrida
Narella horrida (Versluys, 1906)
Descriptions from checklists and floras indexed by GBIF
description
Description. The figured specimens (Fig. 1 N) consist of about a dozen (entire colony not collected) unbranched branches, all but one of which originate from a common basal calcareous encrustation about 3 mm in thickness; one bifurcates a branch 1 cm above the encrustation. The longest of the individual branches are about 10 cm in length, altogether producing a small bushy colony. The polyps are evenly spaced at about 3 per cm, each whorl having five or six polyps, space on one side of each branch occupied by a rather large (up to 2.5 mm in diameter) polychaete worm tube produced by the lateral extensions of contiguous basal scales. The whorl diameter is 7 – 9 mm. The horizontal length of a contracted polyp is 3.0 – 3.4 mm. The basal body wall scales are quite tall (up to 4.3 mm in height) and thick (massive), the distal third to half of the scale constituting a flattened spine (Fig. 15 B – D, E). The dorsolateral edge of the basal scales are rounded (not ridged) and it, as well as all other body wall and coenenchymal scales, is uniformly granulated. The basal scales are closed in the adaxial position, but the medial and buccals are open. The medial body wall scales are narrower (F
Primnoidae (Cnidaria: Octocorallia: Calcaxonia) of the Okeanos Explorer expeditions (CAPSTONE) to the central Pacific
description
The type of S. irregularis is untraced. Type Locality: west of Satsuma, Japan, depth unknown.
Primnoidae (Cnidaria: Octocorallia: Calcaxonia) of the Okeanos Explorer expeditions (CAPSTONE) to the central Pacific
discussion
Remarks. The Okeanos specimen differs from the type in having slightly larger polyps (3.0 – 3.4 mm vs 2.0 mm) and thus a larger whorl diameter, and in having a primarily unbranched colony, that of the type of N. horrida being sparsely branched. Since all other characters are similar and at least one of the branches of the Okeanos specimen is branched, it is likely that they are conspecific. This would appear to be the first report of this species subsequent to its description in 1906.
Primnoidae (Cnidaria: Octocorallia: Calcaxonia) of the Okeanos Explorer expeditions (CAPSTONE) to the central Pacific
distribution
Distribution. Banda Sea, Indonesia; Tokelau Islands; off Japan, 204 – 327 m.
Primnoidae (Cnidaria: Octocorallia: Calcaxonia) of the Okeanos Explorer expeditions (CAPSTONE) to the central Pacific
Where it has been recorded
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
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In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Narella horrida in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
From the GBIF Backbone Taxonomy and occurrence records (GBIF.org), with Wikipedia and the Source Library. GBIF species 5185057.