Taxonomic revision of the southwestern Atlantic Madracis and the description of Madracis fragilis n. sp. (Scleractinia: Pocilloporidae), a new coral species from Brazil
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3989/scimar.2009.73n4735Keywords:
biodiversity, systematics, morphology, azooxanthellate coral, deep sea, South AtlanticAbstract
The genus Madracis has been known in Brazil from four deep water species, namely M. mirabilis, M. asperula, M. brueggemanni and M. pharensis, and one zooxanthellate species from shallow water environments, M. decactis. Delicate fragments of a small branching colony of an undescribed Madracis were collected at 73 m depth, northern Salvador (Bahia State). Although resembling the congeners M. asperula and M. brueggemanni, the new species has distinct features including reduced branch thickness, smaller diameter of corallite and columella structure and pattern of coenosteum ornamentation. Because of the worldwide focus on reef-building corals, knowledge of azooxanthellate scleractinians remains scarce. In addition to contributing to the inventory of Brazilian coral fauna, the occurrence of a new species of Madracis provides further evidence of the high diversity of deep-water coral communities in the tropical South Atlantic.
Downloads
References
Bruno, J.F. and P.J. Edmunds. – 1997. Clonal variation for phenotypic plasticity in the coral Madracis mirabilis. Ecology, 78(7): 2177-2190.
Bruno, J.F. and P.J. Edmunds. – 1998. Metabolic consequences of phenotypic plasticity in the coral Madracis mirabilis (Duchassaing and Michelotti): the effect of morphology and water flow on aggregate respiration. J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol., 229: 187-195. doi:10.1016/S0022-0981(98)00050-1
Cairns, S.D. – 1979. The deep-water Scleractinia of the Caribbean Sea and adjacent waters. Stud. Faun. Curaçao Carib. Is., 180: 341.
Cairns, S.D. – 2000. A revision of the shallow-water azooxanthellate Scleractinia of the Western Atlantic. In: L.J. van der Steen (ed.), Publications Foundation for Scientific Research in the Caribbean Region, n. 143. Stud. Nat. Hist. Carib. Reg., 75: 240.
Castro, B.T. and D.O. Pires. – 2006. Reproductive biology of Madracis decactis (Lyman, 1859) (Cnidaria, Scleractinia) from southern Bahia reefs. Arq. Mus. Nac., 64: 19-27.
Diekmann, O.E., R.P.M. Bak, W.T. Stam and J.L. Olsen. – 2001. Molecular genetic evidence for probable reticulate speciation in the genus Madracis from a Caribbean fringing reef slope. Mar. Biol., 139: 221-233. doi:10.1007/s002270100584
Duncan, P.M. – 1884. A revision of the families and genera of the Sclerodermic Zoantharia, Ed. and H, or Madreporaria (M. Rugosa excepted). J. Linn. 18(104-105): 204.
Fenner, D.P. – 1993. Species distinctions among several Caribbean stony corals. Bull. Mar. Sci., 53(3): 1099-1116.
Fernandes, A.C.S. and P.S. Young. – 1986. Corais coletados durante a ‘Operação Geomar X’ em junho de 1978 (Coelenterata, Anthozoa, Scleractinia). An. VII Cong. Bras. Zool., 66: 23-31.
Fukami, H., A.F. Budd, D. R. Levitan, J. Jara, R. Kersanach and N. Knowlton. – 2004. Geographic differences in species boundaries among members of the Montastraea annularis complex based on molecular and morphological markers. Evolution, 58(2): 324-337.
Gregory, J.W. – 1895. Contributions to the paleontology and physical geology of the West Indies. Quat. J. Geol. Soc., 51(203): 255-328.
Kerr, A.M. – 2005. Molecular and morphological supertree of stony corals (Anthozoa: Scleractinia) using matrix representation parsimony. Biol. Rev., 80: 543-558. doi:10.1017/S1464793105006780
Kitahara, M.V. – 2006. Novas ocorrências de corais azooxantelados (Anthozoa, Scleractinia) na plataforma e talude continental do sul do Brasil (25-34°S). Biotemas, 19(3): 55-63.
Kitahara, M.V. and S.D. Cairns. – 2005. Monohedotrochus capitolii, a new genus and species of solitary azooxanthellate coral (Scleractinia, Caryophillidae) from southern Brazil. Zool. Meded., 79(3): 117-123.
Laborel, J. – 1967. Les peuplements de Madréporaires des côtes tropicales du Brésil. Faculté des Sciences de l’Université d’Aix- Marseille. Ph.D. thesis, part I, Univ. d’Aix-Marseille.
Laborel, J. – 1970. Madréporaires et hydrocoralliaires récifaux des côtes brésiliennes. Systématique, écologie, répartition verticale et géographique. Ann. Inst. Oceanogr., 47: 15-229.
Laborel, J. – 1974. West African reef corals an hypothesis on their origin. Proc. 2nd Int. Coral Reef Symp., 1: 425-443.
Locke, J.M., E. Weil and K.A. Coates. – 2007. A newly documented species of Madracis (Scleractinia: Pocilloporidae) from the Caribbean. Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., 120(2): 214-226. doi:10.2988/0006-324X(2007)120[214:ANDSOM]2.0.CO;2
Milne Edwards, H. and J. Haime. – 1849. Recherches sur les polypiers. Ann. Sci. Nat., B, 12: 95-197.
Neves, E.G. – 2004. Complexo Siderastrea: espécies distintas? Significado da variabiliade do gênero Siderastrea de Blainville 1830 (Anthozoa, Scleractinia) no Brasil. Ph.D. thesis. Univ. De São Paulo.
Neves, E.G., F.L. da Silveira, R. Johnsson and L.L. Longo. – 2002. Shallow-water scleractinian corals and zoanthids from reefs of Coroa Grande, Pernambuco State, Brazil. Biociências, 10(2): 127-145.
Neves, E.G., R. Johnsson, C. Sampaio and M. Pichon. – 2006. The occurrence of Scolymia cubensis in Brazil: revising the problem of the Caribbean solitary mussids. Zootaxa, 1366: 45-54.
Neves, E.G., S.C.S. Andrade, F.L. da Silveira and V.N. Solferini. – 2008. Genetic variation and population structuring in two brooding coral species (Siderastrea stellata and Siderastrea radians) from Brazil. Genetica, 132: 243-254. doi:10.1007/s10709-007-9168-z
Ridley, S.O. – 1881. Account of the zoological collections made during the survey of H.M.S. Alert in the Straits of Magellan and on the coast of Patagonia. X. Coelenterata. Proc. Zool. Soc. Lon., 1881: 101-107.
Romano, S.L. and S.R. Palumbi. – 1996. Evolution of scleractinian corals inferred from molecular systematics. Science, 271: 640-642. doi:10.1126/science.271.5249.640
Sebens, K.P., J. Witting and B. Helmuth. – 1997. Effects of water flow and branch spacing on particle capture by the reef coral Madracis mirabilis (Duchassaing and Michelotti). J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol., 211: 1-28. doi:10.1016/S0022-0981(96)02636-6
Stanley Jr., J.D. and S.D. Cairns. – 1988. Constructional azooxanthellate coral communities: an overview with implications for the fossil record. Palaios, 3: 233-242. doi:10.2307/3514534
Vaughan, T.W. – 1919. Fossil corals from Central America, Cuba, and Porto Rico, with an account of the American Tertiary, Pleistocene, and recent coral reefs. Smithson. Inst. Bull., 103: 189-524.
Vaughan, T.W. and J.W. Wells. – 1943. Revision of the suborders, families and genera of the Scleractinia. Geo. Soc. Am., spec. pap., 44: 363.
Vermeij, M.J.A. and R.P.M. Bak. – 2002. How are coral populations structured by light? Marine light regimes and the distribution of Madracis. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser., 233: 105-116. doi:10.3354/meps233105
Vermeij, M.J.A., E. Sampayo, K. Bröker and R.P.M. Bak. – 2004. The reproductive biology of closely related coral species: gametogenesis in Madracis from the southern Caribbean. Coral Reefs, 23(2): 206-214. doi:10.1007/s00338-004-0368-z
Veron, J.E.N. – 1995. Corals in Space and Time. The Biogeography and Evolution of the Scleractinia. University of New South Wales Press, Sydney.
Veron, J.E.N. – 2000. Corals of the World. Vol. 2. Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville.
Veron, J.E.N., D.M. Odorico, C.A. Chen and D.J. Miller. – 1996. Reassessing evolutionary relationships of scleractinian corals. Coral Reefs, 15: 1-9.
Wells, J.W. – 1973. New and old scleractinian corals from Jamaica. Bull. Mar. Sci., 23(1): 16-55.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2009 Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
© CSIC. Manuscripts published in both the print and online versions of this journal are the property of the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, and quoting this source is a requirement for any partial or full reproduction.
All contents of this electronic edition, except where otherwise noted, are distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence. You may read the basic information and the legal text of the licence. The indication of the CC BY 4.0 licence must be expressly stated in this way when necessary.
Self-archiving in repositories, personal webpages or similar, of any version other than the final version of the work produced by the publisher, is not allowed.