"10. Caryophyllia profunda Moseley, 1881
Plate 5, figs. 1-5
Caryophyllia profunda Moseley, 1881, pp. 138, 139 (part: specimen from Cape Verde Islands is (C. cyathus), pl. 1, figs. 6, 6b.—Not C. profunda; Jourdan, 1895, pp. 10, 11 (is C. cyathus Ellis and Solander, 1786).—von Marenzeller, 1904a, p. 298.—Gardiner, 1913, pp. 688, 689.—Not C. profunda; Gravier, 1920, p. 28 (is Caryophyllia foresti Zibrowius, 1980).—Gardiner, 1929a, p. 126; 1939, p. 331.—Ralph, 1948, p. 108, fig. 2 (top).—Squires, 1958, p. 44; 1960, pp. 196, 198-200, pl. 34, figs. 5-7, pl. 35, figs. 9-11; 1962b, pp. 13-15, pl. 1, figs. 13, 14; 1964a, p. 11; 1969, pp. 16, 17, pl. 6, map 1.—Ralph and Squires, 1962, pp. 3, 6, 7, pl. 1, figs. 8-11.— Squires and Keyes, 1967, pp. 15, 17, 23, pl. 2, figs. 1-4.—Zibrowius, 1974a, pp. 751-755, pl. 1, figs. 1-10.—Beurois, 1975, p. 46, photo 13.—Cairns, 1979, p. 206.
Caryophyllia cyathus; von Marenzeller, 1904a, p. 295, pl. 16, figs. 6, 6a.—Hoffmeister, 1933, p. 14, pl. 4, figs. 4, 5.—Gardiner, 1939, pp. 330, 331.—Squires, 1961, p. 17.
Caryophyllia planilamellata Dennant, 1906, pp. 157, 158, pl. 6, figs. 4a, 4b.—Squires, 1961, p. 18.
Caryophyllia clavus; Wells, 1958, p. 265, pl. 1, figs. 12, 13.
Caryophyllia cf. C. maculata; Ralph, 1948, p. 108, fig. 2 (bottom, right).—Ralph and Squires, 1962, pp. 3, 7, pl. 2, figs. 1, 2.—Squires and Keyes, 1967, pp. 15, 17, 23, pl. 2, figs. 4, 5.
Description. Corallum trochoid to cylindrical, straight to slightly bent; strongly attached by broad, encrusting base. Pedicel variable in diameter, ranging from 20 to 70% of GCD. Pedicel usually greatly increased in diameter by concentric layers of external stereome. Large specimens up to 41 mm in GCD and 50 mm tall. Individual corolla sometimes clumping into pseudocolonial arrangement. Calice round in young specimens, becoming elliptical in larger specimens. Theca porcelaneous, finely granulated, and often brownish. Costae usually flat and equal, although C1-3 sometimes moderately ridged. Septa hexamerally arranged in five cycles. S1 and S2 equal in size and highly exsert; higher-cycle septa progressively smaller and less exsert. Calices with more than 96 septa rare, but those with less than 96 septa and 24 pali common, roughly a function of smaller calicular diameter. Inner edges of all septa straight, except those of S4, these sometimes slightly sinuous. Septal granulation variable, usually consisting of extremely fine, low granules, but sometimes larger, blunt granules; never arranged in carinae.
Fossa moderately deep. Narrow pali occurring before S4; each separated from its corresponding septum by a deep and narrow to shallow and broad notch. Pali sometimes bilobed or trilobed. Columella variable, composed of several linearly arranged, twisted ribbons; or a fused mass of twisted ribbons generally aligned in greater calicular axis; or a labyrinthiform arrangement of modified twisted ribbons.
Remarks. Only Moseley [1881] recorded observations of the living coral. He stated that the ground color of the polyp was transparent blue, encircled by a sulphur-yellow margin at the calicular edge. The stomadeum was white or vermillion, and the short tentacles were red knobbed.
In one of the few papers that document growth rates for deepwater corals, Squires [1960] estimated the growth rate for this species as 0.88-2.02 mm/year in height. He also hypothesized on features characteristic of cessation of growth (or maximum size), such as lobation of pali and septa; increased thickness of septa and pedicel; and coarsened septal, palar, and costal ornamentation.
Discussion. Gardiner's [1939] record of C. profunda from Discovery station 190 is the only continental Antarctic record for the species and produces an unusual distribution pattern, which includes predominantly cold temperate records, two marginal Subantarctic records (Tristan and Gough islands), and Gardiner's single Antarctic record. Zibrowius [1974a, p. 754] distinguished Gardiner's Antarctic specimen from typical C. profunda by its narrower and deeper notches between the septa and pali and the more vertical edges of its pali.
Among the specimens that I have examined, I find these characters to be within the range of variation for the species and, in general, not of specific value. Assuming that no labeling errors were made, the somewhat anomalous distribution of C. profunda must stand.
C. profunda is easily distinguished from other Antarctic Caryophyllia by its greater size and the presence of five cycles of septa with pali before the fourth cycle.
Material. Eltanin sta. 1403 (1), USNM 47518; sta. 1718 (37), USNM 47519; sta. 1814 (1), USNM 47520. Specimens (8) identified as (C. profunda and C. cyathus by Gardiner [1939], BM 1939.7.20.202-203, 207-213; some specimens of Squires and Keyes [1967], i.e., B-489 (5), C-690 (4), C-703 (5), all at USNM; some species of Zibrowius [1974a], i.e., AMS-66 (1), AMS-1474, off Île Amsterdam, 80 m, Jan. 1972, all at USNM. Eleven syntypes.
Types. Approximately 20 syntypes of C. profunda, collected at Challenger station 135, are deposited at the British Museum (1880.11.25.36, 1880.11.25.241, 1889.7.8.1-5). The syntype fragment from Cape Verde Islands is C. cyathus [see Zibrowius, 1974a]. Type-locality: 37°01'50"S, 12°19'10"W (off Nightingale Island, Tristan da Cunha Group); 183-274 m. At least one syntype of C. planilamellata Dennant is deposited at the Aus tralian Museum (G 12057).
Distribution. Circumpolar in southern temperate waters: off South Africa, Île Saint-Paul and Île Amsterdam, South Australia, New Zealand, and Chatham Island; Subantarctic islands of Tristan and Gough; off Hugo Island, Palmer Archipelago. Squires's [1969] Subantarctic records from off South America and the Macquarie Ridge are unsubstantiated (Map 4). Most common between 80 and 250 m; confirmed range: 35-1116 m.”
(Cairns, 1982)
