Prof. Dr. Peter Wirtz, Madeira
Info
Cladocora debilis is a very widespread azooxanthellate stony coral, of which there are very few photos. Unfortunately, Dr. Petar Kružić was only able to photograph a coral skeleton in his essay “First record of Cladocora debilis (Cnidaria: Anthozoa) in the Adriatic Sea” because he had been free diving without equipment that day.
We assume that one reason for the few photos is the depth distribution of the species, which occurs at depths of up to 400 meters. Findings have mainly been reported from trawl landings.
Dr. Peter Wirtz, one of our most loyal scientific supporters, was able to photograph a colony of Cladocora debilis in an underwater cave around Madeira, an archipelago in the eastern Atlantic off the northwest coast of Africa, at a depth of 7 meters, and kindly provided us with two photos.
The color of the expanded polyps was transparent white.
This stony coral forms slender and smaller colonies with significantly fewer branches than, for example, Cladocora caespitosa.
Pali and columella are well developed.
Four species are known from the genus Cladocora:
Cladocora arbuscula contains zooxanthellae
Cladocora caespitosa contains zooxanthellae
Cladocora debilis without zooxanthellae (azooxanthellate)
Cladocora pacifica without zooxanthellae (azooxanthellate)
Many thanks for your photos, dear Peter!
Synonyms:
Cladocora cespitosa var. paulmayeri Döderlein, 1913 · unaccepted > junior subjective synonym
Cladocora patriarca Pourtalès, 1874 · unaccepted > junior subjective synonym
Cladocora paulmayeri Döderlein, 1913 · unaccepted > junior subjective synonym
We assume that one reason for the few photos is the depth distribution of the species, which occurs at depths of up to 400 meters. Findings have mainly been reported from trawl landings.
Dr. Peter Wirtz, one of our most loyal scientific supporters, was able to photograph a colony of Cladocora debilis in an underwater cave around Madeira, an archipelago in the eastern Atlantic off the northwest coast of Africa, at a depth of 7 meters, and kindly provided us with two photos.
The color of the expanded polyps was transparent white.
This stony coral forms slender and smaller colonies with significantly fewer branches than, for example, Cladocora caespitosa.
Pali and columella are well developed.
Four species are known from the genus Cladocora:
Cladocora arbuscula contains zooxanthellae
Cladocora caespitosa contains zooxanthellae
Cladocora debilis without zooxanthellae (azooxanthellate)
Cladocora pacifica without zooxanthellae (azooxanthellate)
Many thanks for your photos, dear Peter!
Synonyms:
Cladocora cespitosa var. paulmayeri Döderlein, 1913 · unaccepted > junior subjective synonym
Cladocora patriarca Pourtalès, 1874 · unaccepted > junior subjective synonym
Cladocora paulmayeri Döderlein, 1913 · unaccepted > junior subjective synonym
