Gemeinfreies Foto / Public Domain
Info
Chrysogorgia monticola is a bottlebrush-shaped deep-water gorgonian coral that has only been found on Davidson Seamount, a deep-sea mountain off the coast of California.
The branches of the coral emerge from the main stem every 4–5 mm and branch dichotomously up to 5 or 6 times (with 5–6 nodes).
The polyps are quite robust, about 1.1 mm high and 1.0 mm in distal diameter.
The tentacles are covered with small, crescent-shaped pinnular scales which, like the body wall, have sclerites with blunt, folded tips.
The holotype colony collected with an ROV is 19 cm high and 10 cm wide, with a basal branch diameter of 1.55 mm, but the colony lacked an adhesive root.
Color: white to light pink.
Based on 110 observations, Lonny Lundsten has recorded this species at Davidson Seamount at depths of 1711 to 3015 meters (mostly between 2400 and 2500 meters) and at water temperatures of 1.66 to 2.38 °C (mostly between 1.74 and 1.84 °C).
Apart from Chrysogorgia monticola, only one previously described species of Chrysogorgia is known from the eastern Pacific, Chrysogorgia fruticosa (Studer, 1894).
Habitat description: Chrysogorgia monticola settles benthically on hard substrates.
Etymology
The species name “monticola” comes from Latin, where “mont” = mountain + ‘cola’ = inhabitant, literally meaning “mountain dweller,” and is a reference to its habitat on seamounts.
Literature reference
Cairns, S.D. (2007).
Calcaxonian Octocorals (Cnidaria; Anthozoa) from Eastern Pacific Seamounts. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences,
58: 511-541.
The branches of the coral emerge from the main stem every 4–5 mm and branch dichotomously up to 5 or 6 times (with 5–6 nodes).
The polyps are quite robust, about 1.1 mm high and 1.0 mm in distal diameter.
The tentacles are covered with small, crescent-shaped pinnular scales which, like the body wall, have sclerites with blunt, folded tips.
The holotype colony collected with an ROV is 19 cm high and 10 cm wide, with a basal branch diameter of 1.55 mm, but the colony lacked an adhesive root.
Color: white to light pink.
Based on 110 observations, Lonny Lundsten has recorded this species at Davidson Seamount at depths of 1711 to 3015 meters (mostly between 2400 and 2500 meters) and at water temperatures of 1.66 to 2.38 °C (mostly between 1.74 and 1.84 °C).
Apart from Chrysogorgia monticola, only one previously described species of Chrysogorgia is known from the eastern Pacific, Chrysogorgia fruticosa (Studer, 1894).
Habitat description: Chrysogorgia monticola settles benthically on hard substrates.
Etymology
The species name “monticola” comes from Latin, where “mont” = mountain + ‘cola’ = inhabitant, literally meaning “mountain dweller,” and is a reference to its habitat on seamounts.
Literature reference
Cairns, S.D. (2007).
Calcaxonian Octocorals (Cnidaria; Anthozoa) from Eastern Pacific Seamounts. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences,
58: 511-541.
