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The black coral Bathypathes thermophila was reported in 2020 from two areas off Duba on the coast of Saudi Arabia in the northern Red Sea at depths of 360 - 720 meters, extending the known distribution further south, as the coral has so far only been known from the more northerly Gulf of Aqaba and the northern Red Sea, here from depths of 195 to 720 meters.
The water temperature at the seafloor was 22 °C, indicating that Bathypathes thermophila lives in relatively warm waters.
The species is quite common in this depth zone of the Red Sea, where a total of 335 colonies were observed during the study.
Here, aggregations of up to two colonies per m³ were found at depths of 280-300 m in two different areas, as well as areas where Bathypathes thermophila was the only upright growing organism
Here the coral settles on shallow or gently sloping seafloor covered by a mud veneer, often this bottom is used as habitat by crinoids, spider crabs and other epibionts.
Large colonies, about 40 cm high, may have one or a few branches.
Although Opresko and Molodtsova (2021) indicate that monopodial Bathypathes colonies may have only one branching due to damaging events, skeletal analysis near the branching in Bathypathes thermophila colonies revealed no evidence of previous problems, suggesting that the occasional branching may be due to the division of a primary polyp.
On the contrary, signs of recovery after mechanical damage were observed on the skeleton of Bathypathes thermophila without branching.
These signs usually appeared in the form of skeletal swelling, a chaotic pattern of spines, or a drastic narrowing of the pinnule segment.
The species name "thermophila" is derived from the Greek words "thermos" for (hot) and "philia" for (love, preference for) and refers to the occurrence of this species in the rather warm waters of the Red Sea, especially compared to the water temperatures normally measured in other waters in the same depth range.
Source:
Chimienti G, Terraneo TI, Vicario S, Marchese F, Purkis SJ, Abdulla Eweida A, Rodrigue M, Benzoni F (2022)
A new species of Bathypathes (Cnidaria, Anthozoa, Antipatharia, Schizopathidae) from the Red Sea and its phylogenetic position.
ZooKeys 1116: 1-22. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1116.79846
The water temperature at the seafloor was 22 °C, indicating that Bathypathes thermophila lives in relatively warm waters.
The species is quite common in this depth zone of the Red Sea, where a total of 335 colonies were observed during the study.
Here, aggregations of up to two colonies per m³ were found at depths of 280-300 m in two different areas, as well as areas where Bathypathes thermophila was the only upright growing organism
Here the coral settles on shallow or gently sloping seafloor covered by a mud veneer, often this bottom is used as habitat by crinoids, spider crabs and other epibionts.
Large colonies, about 40 cm high, may have one or a few branches.
Although Opresko and Molodtsova (2021) indicate that monopodial Bathypathes colonies may have only one branching due to damaging events, skeletal analysis near the branching in Bathypathes thermophila colonies revealed no evidence of previous problems, suggesting that the occasional branching may be due to the division of a primary polyp.
On the contrary, signs of recovery after mechanical damage were observed on the skeleton of Bathypathes thermophila without branching.
These signs usually appeared in the form of skeletal swelling, a chaotic pattern of spines, or a drastic narrowing of the pinnule segment.
The species name "thermophila" is derived from the Greek words "thermos" for (hot) and "philia" for (love, preference for) and refers to the occurrence of this species in the rather warm waters of the Red Sea, especially compared to the water temperatures normally measured in other waters in the same depth range.
Source:
Chimienti G, Terraneo TI, Vicario S, Marchese F, Purkis SJ, Abdulla Eweida A, Rodrigue M, Benzoni F (2022)
A new species of Bathypathes (Cnidaria, Anthozoa, Antipatharia, Schizopathidae) from the Red Sea and its phylogenetic position.
ZooKeys 1116: 1-22. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1116.79846
