Species Conopora verrucosa (Studer, 1878)
Hydrocoral, Lace Coral
- Stylaster verrucosus Studer, T. 1878. Uebersicht der Steinkorallen aus der Familie der Madreporaria aporosa, Eupsammina und Turbinarina, welche auf der Reise S.M.S. "Gazelle" um die Erde gesammelt wurden. Monatsberichte der Königlichen Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin 625-655, pls 1-4.
- Conopora major Hickson & England, 1905.
- Conopora pauciseptata Broch, 1950.
Generic Combinations
- Conopora verrucosa (Studer, 1878).
Introduction
The geographic distribution of Conopora verrucosa includes the Australian Antarctic Territory in East Antarctica (Bax and Cairns, 2014). This species is found across a broad depth range (~198 - 2355 m), and the limited documentation of C. verrucosa may reflect a lack of sampling at great depths around Antarctica.
Conopora verrucosa has a distinct cyclosystem structure (Cairns, 1983b), and its cladistic placement based on genetics and morphology is discussed in Bax (2015) where the following conclusions are highlighted as important to the evolution of stylasterid corals:
Stylasterid fossils can be traced back to the late Cretaceous 65 million years ago. The oldest known stylasterid appears to be Conopora (Jell et al., 2011), and the earliest Antarctic fossil is Conopora mariae, dated to the Eocene ~ 50 million years ago (Stolarski, 1998). The Lindner et al., (2008) genetic phylogeny is composed of three distinct clades. Clade (1) contains double-chambered cyclosystemate species, including Conopora species which lack a gastrostyle, Plibothrus spp. with no observed gastrostyle (Cairns, 1983a) and Lepidopora microstylus, which in contrast to the other two genera has a rudimentary gastrostyle (Lindner et al., 2008). Clade (2) contains Stylaster species (with both cyclosystems and gastrostyles). Clade (3) contains the other stylasterid taxa (some cyclosystemate and some not). This suggests that the common ancestor to all stylasterid clades had cyclosystems. This genetic information, combined with the fossil record, indicates that the placement of Conopora as basal in genetic phylogenies in Lindner et al. (2008) and Bax (2015), is a parsimonious conclusion.
Distribution
Other Regions
Australian Antarctic Territory
Distribution References
Ecological Descriptors
Hydroid and medusa stages: colonial (host(s): polychaete worm; Pedicularia sea snail).
General References
Bax N.N. & Cairns, S.D. 2014. Stylasteridae (Cnidaria; Hydrozoa). pp. 107 - 112 in De Broyer, C., Koubbi, P., Griffiths, H.J., Raymond, B., Udekem d'Acoz, C., Van de Putte, A.P., Danis, B., David, B., Grant, S., Gutt, J., Held, C., Hosie, G., Huettmann, F., Post, A. & Ropert-Coudert, Y. (eds.). Biogeographic Atlas of the Southern Ocean. Cambridge : Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research 498 pp.
Cairns, S.D. 1983a. A generic revision of the Stylasterina (Coelenterata: Hydrozoa). Part 1. Description of the genera. Bulletin of Marine Science 33(2): 427-508
Cairns, S.D. 1983b. Antarctic and Sub-Antarctic Stylasterina (Coelenterata: Hydrozoa). Antarctic Research Series 38: 61-164
Cairns, S.D. 2015. Stylasteridae (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa: Anthothecata) of the New Caledonian region. Mémoires du Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris (N.S.) [1993-2016] 207: 1-362 [208]
Jell J.S., Cook A.G., Jell P.A. 2011. Australian Cretaceous Cnidaria and Porifera. Alcheringa 35: 241-284
Lindner A., Cairns S.D. & Cunningham C.W. 2008. From offshore to onshore: multiple origins of shallow-water corals from deep-sea ancestors. PLoS ONE (Public Library of Science) 3: 6
Stolarski J. 1998. Conopora (Stylasteridae, Hydrozoa) from the Eocene of Seymour Island. Antarctic Science 10: 487-492
History of changes
Published | As part of group | Action Date | Action Type | Compiler(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
HYDROZOA Owen, 1843 | 30-Jun-2017 | ADDED | Dr Narissa Bax |