Zootaxa
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Habitat and distribution. The species was collected with bottom trawls on sandy or muddy-sandy substrates. It was also caught with fishing lines and nets on rocky shoals where colonies were snatched as bycatch or became entangled in the lines from 40 to 60 m depth.
Adelogorgia osculabunda was frequently collected along with Leptogorgia regis Hickson, 1928, Muricea fruticosa Verrill, 1868, Muricea subtilis Breedy and Guzman, 2016, and two species of Psammogorgia.
The species was found in several locations in Costa Rica, from Salinas Bay and Santa Elena Bay to Cape Santa Elena, Guanacaste (northern Pacific), and Punta Mala, Puntarenas (central Pacific), suggesting a wide distribution of the species along the Pacific.
In Panamá in the Pearl Islands, colonies were obtained by dredging at 80 m depth, which is currently the deepest record.
The colony is pinkish with a conspicuous coral red polyp mound, the polyps are translucent their stomach cavities are filled with whitish eggs in this specimen.
Variability. The colonies examined reach up to 15 cm in height and are about the same width.
The branches are thinner, in some small colonies they have a diameter of 2 - 3 mm. The shape of the colonies varies from a few branches to fan-like colonies.
The coralline polyp mounds are always present and are a characteristic feature of the species, observed in dry or preserved colonies.
Etymology. Named after "osculabunda" Latin adjective derived from "osculum" meaning "little mouth, kiss".
In the Latin context, osculabunda means the one covered with kisses, alluding to the red, conspicuous polyp mounds that cover the branches.
Remarks. Adelogorgia osculabunda resembles Adelogorgia hannibalis in the conspicuous polyp mounds, which are a slightly darker orange, contrasting with the color of the colony, but not as distinct as in Adelogorgia osculabunda.
The thinner colonies of A. osculabunda look similar to those of A. hannibalis, but in A. osculabunda the polyp mounds are narrower and stiffer than in A. hannibalis.
Adelogorgia osculabunda was frequently collected along with Leptogorgia regis Hickson, 1928, Muricea fruticosa Verrill, 1868, Muricea subtilis Breedy and Guzman, 2016, and two species of Psammogorgia.
The species was found in several locations in Costa Rica, from Salinas Bay and Santa Elena Bay to Cape Santa Elena, Guanacaste (northern Pacific), and Punta Mala, Puntarenas (central Pacific), suggesting a wide distribution of the species along the Pacific.
In Panamá in the Pearl Islands, colonies were obtained by dredging at 80 m depth, which is currently the deepest record.
The colony is pinkish with a conspicuous coral red polyp mound, the polyps are translucent their stomach cavities are filled with whitish eggs in this specimen.
Variability. The colonies examined reach up to 15 cm in height and are about the same width.
The branches are thinner, in some small colonies they have a diameter of 2 - 3 mm. The shape of the colonies varies from a few branches to fan-like colonies.
The coralline polyp mounds are always present and are a characteristic feature of the species, observed in dry or preserved colonies.
Etymology. Named after "osculabunda" Latin adjective derived from "osculum" meaning "little mouth, kiss".
In the Latin context, osculabunda means the one covered with kisses, alluding to the red, conspicuous polyp mounds that cover the branches.
Remarks. Adelogorgia osculabunda resembles Adelogorgia hannibalis in the conspicuous polyp mounds, which are a slightly darker orange, contrasting with the color of the colony, but not as distinct as in Adelogorgia osculabunda.
The thinner colonies of A. osculabunda look similar to those of A. hannibalis, but in A. osculabunda the polyp mounds are narrower and stiffer than in A. hannibalis.
