[Coral-List] coral nomenclature

[Judith Lang/Lynton Land]

Hi Rich,
Well, more accurate to say that michelinii is the form in which the 
polyps are plocoid (have separate walls).
  The walls of the intersepta form are subcerioid (adjacent polyps are 
almost united) and, in life, have fewer zooxanthellae (or perhaps less 
pigment/algal cell) than the central area of the polyp, which means the 
corals have a "reticulated" appearance which is particularly striking 
when they contract.
Best,
Judy

On Jan 26, 2004, at 4:13 PM, Richard B. Aronson wrote:

> Thanks for sorting this out Judy. I was aware that intersepta is the 
> prior
> synonym, but not that the head form would be michelinii if indeed it 
> is a
> separate species.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Rich
>
> On Sat, 24 Jan 2004, Judith Lang/Lynton Land wrote:
>
>> Paul,
>> Dr. Ann Foster synonymized the two species in the following 
>> publication
>> with S. intersepta (not intercepta)  having priority:
>> Foster, A. B.1987. Neogene Paleontology in the Northern Dominican
>> Republic. 4. The genus Stephanocoenia (Anthozoa: Scleractinia:
>> Astrocoeniidae). Bulls. Amer. Paleontology 93: 5-22, pls. 1-7.
>>
>> However, there is a lingering suspicion that really there may be two
>> living species of Stephanocoenia and, if so, the second species
>> probably should be called S. michelinii (not michelini). This second
>> morph is illustrated in the bottom two photos on pages 110 and 111 of
>> Paul Humann's Reef Coral Identification guide. The top photo on page
>> 110, and the two upper photos on page 111 are good examples of the
>> intersepta morph.
>>
>> If a more recent taxonomic treatment of the living members of this
>> genus exists, I'd be interested to hear about it.
>> Judy
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Jan 23, 2004, at 1:32 PM, paul brown wrote:
>>
>>> Hi all,
>>> I have seen numerous uses of Stephanocoenia intercepta as well as S.
>>> michelini in the literature. Are these in fact different species or
>>> are these synomyms for the same species? If they are synomyms, which
>>> is the most current?
>>> Any knowledge about the taxonomy of this genera would be greatly
>>> appreciated.
>>>
>>> Paul Brown
>>> PhD candidate
>>> University of Calgary
>>> Department of Biological Sciences
>>> 2500 University Drive
>>> Calgary, Alberta, Cananda
>>> T2N 1N4
>>> (403) 210-5484
>>>
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>
>