The Pennatulaceans Pteroeides spinosum (Ellis, 1764) and Pennatula aculeata Danielssen, 1860 are noted from Madeira for the first time. With the species Veretillum cynomorium (Pallas, 1766) already being known from the area, there are now three species of Pennatulacea recorded from Madeira.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Ocaña, Óscar

Wirtz, Peter

English

Universidade do Algarve

New records of Pennatulacea (Cnidaria, Octocorallia) from Madeira island

The Pennatulaceans Pteroeides spinosum (Ellis, 1764) and Pennatula aculeata Danielssen, 1860 are noted from Madeira for the first time. With the species Veretillum cynomorium (Pallas, 1766) already being known from the area, there are now three species of Pennatulacea recorded from Madeira

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  49SHORT COMMUNICATION New records of Pennatulacea (Cnidaria, Octocorallia) from Madeira island OSCAR OCAÑA & PETER WIRTZ Ocaña, O. & P. Wirtz 2007.  New records of Pennatulacea (Cnidaria, Octocorallia) from Madeira island. Arquipélago. Life and Marine Sciences 24: 49-51.  The Pennatulaceans Pteroeides spinosum (Ellis, 1764) and Pennatula aculeata Danielssen, 1860 are noted from Madeira for the first time. With the species Veretillum cynomorium (Pallas, 1766) already being known from the area, there are now three species of Pennatulacea recorded from Madeira. Oscar Ocaña (e-mail: lebruni@ctv.es)  Instituto Estudios Ceutíes (CECEL-CSIC), Paseo del Revellín 30, Aptdo. 593, ES-51080 Ceuta, Spain; Peter Wirtz, Centro de Ciências do Mar, Universidade do Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, PT-8005-139 Faro, Portugal.  INTRODUCTION During SCUBA dives along the coasts of Madeira and Porto Santo Islands, the second author noted the presence of species not yet recorded for the area. Similar to previous publications (e.g. Wirtz 1998, 1999), we report here on two marine invertebrates new for the fauna of the Madeira archipelago. MATERIAL AND METHODS The records were made while SCUBA diving at night near Caniçal, in front of the marina, on sandy bottom, in a depth down to 35 m. Animals were photographed in the field, collected, and preserved in alcohol. Voucher specimens were deposited in the collection of the Museu Municipal do Funchal (História Natural) under the numbers MMF 38527 (Pteroeides spinosum) and MMF 38528 (Pennatula aculeata). It then turned out that the MMF already contained specimens of these two species but of unknown origin: they had been encountered in the Funchal fish market: Pteroeides spinosum (MMF 8490, 8491) _and _Pennatula _aculeata_ (MMF 8489).  In addition, there was a specimen of Pteroeides spinosum collected by M. Biscoito in about 70 m depth in the bay of Funchal in February 2000 (MMF 36815). RESULTS Pteroeides spinosum (Ellis, 1764) This is a common species on sandy bottom in front of the marina near Caniçal. The first animals were encountered in about 15 m depth; the species then became more common down to at least 35 m. The species was also observed in front of the marina of Santa Cruz in 20 m depth.     Pteroeides spinosum has previously been recorded from 30 – 60 m depth in the Western Mediterranean Sea and in the Atlantic from the Gulf of Biscay to Angola; it has only recently been recorded from the Canary Islands (Brito & Ocaña 2004).  Pennatula aculeata Danielssen, 1860 An animal belonging to this species was encountered only once, in 20 m depth, on sandy bottom in front of the marina near Caniçal, at night.  50  Fig. 1. Pteroeides spinosum, in about 20 m depth near Caniçal, Madeira. Animal about 20 cm high.   Fig. 2. Pennatula aculeata, in about 20 m depth near Caniçal, Madeira. Animal about 20 cm long.   51Instead of being embedded in the bottom, the animal was lying on the sand, as shown in    figure 2.     The species has previously been recorded from 50 to more than 200 m depth in the Western Mediterranean Sea and in the Atlantic from Scandinavia to the Canary Islands (Brito & Ocaña 2004). DISCUSSION There is considerable confusion about the taxonomic state of many species of Pennatulacea (see for instance López-González 1993; Weinberg 2003; Brito & Ocaña 2004). This is partly due to a lack of collections. The species Veretillum cynomorium (Pallas, 1766) was the only pennatulid previously recorded from Madeiran waters (Brito & Ocaña 2004); colour photos of Madeiran animals in Wirtz (1995:35) and Wirtz & Debelius (2003:37). This species has a distribution similar to that of the two species noted above: Western Mediterranean Sea and in the Atlantic from northern Spain to South Africa, including the Canary Islands. Thus, there are now three shallow water Pennatulacea recorded from Madeira arquipelago.     The species Virgularia mirabilis (Linnaeus, 1758) and Cavernularia pusilla (Philippi, 1835),                   are two more shallow water Pennatulacea with a similar distribution pattern. They are likely to be present in Madeiran waters, as well, awaiting their discovery. REFERENCES Brito, A. & O. Ocaña 2004.  Corales de las Islas Canarias. Francisco Lemus, Tenerife. 477 pp. López-González, P.J. 1993. Taxonomía y Zoogeografía de los Antozoos del Estrecho de Gibraltar y Áreas próximas. PhD Thesis. Universidad de Sevilla. 569 pp. Weinberg, S. 2003. Pennatulacea. Pp. 415-418 in: Hofrichter, R. (Eds). Das Mittelmeer II/1. Sepektrum Akademischer Verlag, Heidelberg. Berlin. 859 pp. Wirtz, P. 1995. Unterwasserführer Madeira Kanaren Azoren Niedere Tiere - Underwater Guide Madeira Canary Islands Azores Invertebrates. Verlag S. Naglschmid, Stuttgart. 248 pp. Wirtz, P. 1998 Twelve invertebrate and eight fish species new to the marine fauna of Madeira, and a discussion of the zoogeography of the area. Helgoländer Meeresuntersuchungen 52: 197-207. Wirtz, P. 1999 Opisthobranch molluscs from the archipelago of Madeira. Vita Marina 46(1-2): 1-18. Wirtz, P. & H. Debelius 2003. Mediterranean and Atlantic invertebrate guide. Conchbooks, Hackenheim. 305 pp. Accepted 16 December 2007.                 

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New records of Pennatulacea (Cnidaria, Octocorallia) from Madeira island

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