Cupressopathes

Description. The colony is monopodial with a bottle-brush shape, it measures 40 cm in height and 8 cm in width (Fig. 32, a), with a branch growing near the apex (Fig. 32, b). Primary pinnules are irregularly arranged in about four rows around the stem (Fig. 32, b, c), sometimes two successive primaries are inserted on the same side. These primary pinnules are found around 13 cm above the basal anchorage, but the previous presence of primaries around 4 cm above the plate is clearly seen, indicating that they had been broken off. Primary pinnules are thick and measure up to 5 cm in length, but there is an asymmetry in their length as they do not exceed 3 cm in length on one side (Fig. 32, a, b). However, this asymmetry could be due do breaking events as many primary pinnules are not tapering and have a blunt end. Primary pinnules are almost perpendicularly inserted to the branch or slightly inclined upwards (Fig. 32, a, b). Between five and seven primary pinnules are found along one cm, counting those on all sides of the branch. The primary pinnules are branched to the 5 th order, and more than six secondary subpinnules can be found on one primary (Fig. 32, c – e). The secondary pinnules are always on the same side of the primary pinnules and growing upwards (Fig. 32, b, d). Secondary pinnules are mostly biserial but on some primaries a few uniserial secondaries can be found. Secondary pinnules measure up to 3 cm while tertiaries measure up to 1.5 cm. Higher orders of subpinnules are irregular and usually shorter than the tertiary pinnules. The polyps are monoserial and are arranged on the same side of the pinnules. However, on primary pinnules and thick secondary pinnules the row of polyps is not regular, and on thicker branches they can be found irregularly arranged all around the axis. Polyps are white and measure 0.4 – 0.6 mm. On primary and thick secondary pinnules they are widely spaced, up to 1 mm apart. On subpinnules, their mutual distance is 0.2 – 0.6 mm. There are 10 – 14 polyps per cm on the pinnules and subpinnules. The spines vary in shape; from conical and inclined upwards on the subpinnules, to tall, cylindrical and needlelike spines on the branches (Fig. 32, f – i). On primary and secondary pinnules they are not as acicular as in other myriopathids, but rather have a stout, thick conical shape, sometimes with a blunt apex, and inclined in different directions (Fig. 32, g, h). Moreover, spines on the primaries and secondaries may present grooves on one or several sides of their surfaces (Fig. 32, g, h). The spines are finely papillose on their proximal and distal sides, with papillae elongated towards the tip of the spines and almost looking like faint striations (Fig. 32, j – m). On branches, the spines can be bifid, very often divided near the tip of the spine rather than the base (Fig. 32, m). Individual spines can often be missing in the regular longitudinal rows. On a subpinnule 0.15 mm in diameter, four longitudinal rows are seen from one aspect (Fig. 32, f). Abpolypar and polypar spines have a similar size, measuring 0.08 – 0.11 mm, and are spaced 0.09 – 0.23 mm apart. On a secondary pinnule 0.36 mm in diameter, six longitudinal rows are seen, and polypar and abpolypar spines have similar sizes, measuring 0.10 – 0.14 mm and spaced 0.12 – 0.28 mm apart. On a primary pinnule 0.85 mm in diameter, the longitudinal arrangement is lost, the spines reach 0.17 mm while on a branch 2.2 mm in diameter, they measure 0.20 – 0.26 mm. Taxonomic remarks. This specimen presents the typical bottle-brush shape of Cu. abies. Pinnule sizes are also close to those of Cu. abies, except for their diameter as primary and secondary pinnules are particularly thick for this specimen. Such a narrow, cylindrical shape has already been described in Cu. cylindrica by Brook (1889), but he reported a colony 32 cm tall and 4 cm in diameter, meaning that the maximum length of a primary pinnule would be less than 2 cm, which is less than half the length of the longest primary pinnules observed here. Brook also reported fusions between adjacent pinnules which were not seen in the present specimens. In Cu. abies, the bottlebrush shape is symmetrical as the primary pinnules have a consistent length across the colony. The asymmetry seen here might be due to prevailing current or the presence of symbiotic polychaete, as they are known to induce skeletal modifications (Molodtsova & Budaeva 2007), or possibly due to localized breakage as some primaries were not tapering but showing a blunt end. In addition, spines were regularly missing from a longitudinal row on the secondary and primary pinnules. Furthermore, some spines show a peculiar groove on their surface. Despite these particular skeletal modifications, the present specimen recall Cu. abies. Similar colonies are found in areas of moderate currents, which might explain the thickness of ramifications as well as the absence of large lateral branches and the overall cylindrical appearance. The asymmetrical pinnulation might be environmentally-determined depending on the prevailing current direction.

Fig. 32

Material examined. Entire colony, Toliara 22 m, INV. 131340. Depth range. 20 – 25 m.

Description. The colony has a bushy general appearance, it is branched, pinnulate but not flabellate and is about 40 cm high and 40 cm wide (Fig. 31, a). There are four irregular rows of primary pinnules inserted at right angles to the branch (Fig. 31, b, c). Primary pinnules measure up to 2 cm in length and extend horizontally with an angle of insertion varying from 70 ° to 90 °, giving a slight distal inclination (Fig. 31, b, c). Four to six primary pinnules are found along one cm, counting those on all sides of the branch (Fig. 31, b). Subpinnulation is sparse and irregular, up to six subpinnules can be found on a primary (Fig. 31, b – d). Secondary pinnules are mostly uniserial, but they can be biserial on the distal part of the primary pinnules (Fig. 31, c, d). These subpinnules are inclined distally but they are not always growing upwards. Some of them are straight while others can be slightly curved (Fig. 31, b – d). Secondary pinnules measure up to 1 cm while other subpinnules always measure less than 1 cm. The polyps are white and generally arranged in a single row on the pinnules, but they can twist around the latter on thicker primary pinnules. On branches, polyps are irregularly distributed all around. Polyps measure 0.4 – 0.9 mm in transverse diameter. Their mutual distance goes from zero when they sit next to each other to 0.50 mm. There are 9 – 12 polyps per cm on the pinnules and subpinnules. The morphology of spines on pinnules and subpinnules gradually change as the axis gets thicker, from conical and horn-shaped to acicular, sharp and needle-like, as in other myriopathids (Fig. 31, e – h). They are very finely papillose, with the papillae elongated towards the tip (Fig. 31, i – k). On some spines the papillae are almost not distinguishable, and many appear as faint striations (Fig. 31, i – k). These papillae are on the upper part of the spine on the distal and proximal sides (Fig. 31, i – k). The spines are inclined upwards, especially on abpolypar sides, although on thicker branches this inclination is irregular (Fig. 31, e – h). On a subpinnule of 0.1 mm in diameter, the spines are arranged in five longitudinal rows. The polypar spines measure 0.08 – 0.09 mm with a mutual distance of 0.13 – 0.15 mm. The abpolypar spines measure 0.07 – 0.09 mm and are spaced 0.11 – 0.16 mm apart. On a pinnule of 0.21 mm in diameter, the spines are arranged in six longitudinal rows. The polypar spines measure 0.1 – 0.15 mm and are spaced 0.1 – 0.19 mm apart. The abpolypar spines measure 0.1 – 0.12 mm and are spaced 0.1 – 0.2 mm apart. On the main branch of 1 mm in diameter, the longitudinal arrangement is lost, and the spines measure up to 0.21 mm. Bifid spines can also be found on the thick branches (Fig. 31, l). Taxonomic remarks. The Soalara specimen does not match any Cupressopathes species described to date. The most important features of this specimen are the significant branching, giving the colony a bushy appearance; the very sparse subpinnulation; and the spines being finely papillose, giving the appearance of an almost smooth surface.

Fig. 31

Material examined. Distal fragments of one colony, Soalara 13 m INV. 131365. Depth range. 10 – 20 m.