ZooKeys
Info
Leptogorgia enrici is endemic to the Gulf of California (Cortez Province according to the biogeographical regions of Brusca and Wallerstein 1979 and Hasting 2000).
The highest population densities of Leptogorgia enrici are concentrated in the northern Gulf of California (northern Cortez subprovince), which has the greatest seasonal change in sea surface temperature (15-30 °C) and is also associated with high marine productivity.
Here, the gorgonian Leptogorgia enrici inhabits substrates of rocky reefs or gravelly and conchoidal seabed habitats surrounded by sand, in shallow waters, but is most commonly found between 20-40 metres.
Leptogorgia enrici may also be common in deeper waters, but more precise data on these depths are not available.
The gorgonian has a bright yellow colouration with planar growth and lateral branching, it grows wider than taller.
The colony builds a 9 mm diameter holdfast attached to a small rock of biogenic origin, from which emerges the main stem 15 mm long and 2 mm in diameter.
Two main branches emerge from the trunk: one 35 mm long and 2 mm in diameter and the other 117 mm long and 2 mm in diameter.
Several secondary, laterally growing branches arise from these branches. The terminal branches are 20 - 30 mm long, 1.5 mm in diameter and sharply pointed.
The polyp mounds are oval, 1 mm long and 0.5 mm wide, slightly raised and arranged irregularly or in rows on each side of all branches, but not on the trunk.
Leptogorgia enrici occurs in low densities scattered on the reefs (< 1 colony 100 m2) and never clustered in several colonies.
Horn's coral shares its habitat with Muricea spp, Muricea plantaginea (Valenciennes, 1846), Muricea austera Verrill, 1869, Muricea fruticosa Verrill, 1869, Eugorgia aurantiaca (Horn, 1861), Psammogorgia teres Verrill, 1868, and Heterogorgia papillosa Verrill, 1870.
Leptogorgia enrici was named in honour of Dr Enric Sala, a National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence who is actively involved in researching and sharing knowledge to protect the oceans. Enric Sala is a passionate enthusiast of marine life and conservation in Mexico's oceans, actively working to generate knowledge about marine biodiversity.
He founded and leads National Geographic's Pristine Seas Project, which has conducted 30 expeditions around the world and created 22 no-take large-scale protected areas (~5 million km2 fishery-free zones).
Source:
https://zookeys.pensoft.net/article/50619/list/8/
Hernández O, Gomez-Gutiérrez J, Sánchez C (2021)
Three new species of the sea fan genus Leptogorgia (Octocorallia, Gorgoniidae) from the Gulf of California, Mexico.
ZooKeys 1017: 1-20. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1017.50619
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
The highest population densities of Leptogorgia enrici are concentrated in the northern Gulf of California (northern Cortez subprovince), which has the greatest seasonal change in sea surface temperature (15-30 °C) and is also associated with high marine productivity.
Here, the gorgonian Leptogorgia enrici inhabits substrates of rocky reefs or gravelly and conchoidal seabed habitats surrounded by sand, in shallow waters, but is most commonly found between 20-40 metres.
Leptogorgia enrici may also be common in deeper waters, but more precise data on these depths are not available.
The gorgonian has a bright yellow colouration with planar growth and lateral branching, it grows wider than taller.
The colony builds a 9 mm diameter holdfast attached to a small rock of biogenic origin, from which emerges the main stem 15 mm long and 2 mm in diameter.
Two main branches emerge from the trunk: one 35 mm long and 2 mm in diameter and the other 117 mm long and 2 mm in diameter.
Several secondary, laterally growing branches arise from these branches. The terminal branches are 20 - 30 mm long, 1.5 mm in diameter and sharply pointed.
The polyp mounds are oval, 1 mm long and 0.5 mm wide, slightly raised and arranged irregularly or in rows on each side of all branches, but not on the trunk.
Leptogorgia enrici occurs in low densities scattered on the reefs (< 1 colony 100 m2) and never clustered in several colonies.
Horn's coral shares its habitat with Muricea spp, Muricea plantaginea (Valenciennes, 1846), Muricea austera Verrill, 1869, Muricea fruticosa Verrill, 1869, Eugorgia aurantiaca (Horn, 1861), Psammogorgia teres Verrill, 1868, and Heterogorgia papillosa Verrill, 1870.
Leptogorgia enrici was named in honour of Dr Enric Sala, a National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence who is actively involved in researching and sharing knowledge to protect the oceans. Enric Sala is a passionate enthusiast of marine life and conservation in Mexico's oceans, actively working to generate knowledge about marine biodiversity.
He founded and leads National Geographic's Pristine Seas Project, which has conducted 30 expeditions around the world and created 22 no-take large-scale protected areas (~5 million km2 fishery-free zones).
Source:
https://zookeys.pensoft.net/article/50619/list/8/
Hernández O, Gomez-Gutiérrez J, Sánchez C (2021)
Three new species of the sea fan genus Leptogorgia (Octocorallia, Gorgoniidae) from the Gulf of California, Mexico.
ZooKeys 1017: 1-20. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1017.50619
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
