Family Ellisellidae

Ctenocella (Ellisella) barbadensis
(Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864)

Juncella barbadensis Verrill, 1864:22. pl. 5 figs. 5-6.

Remarks. The specimens examined for this work do not exhibit the large diameter and crowded calyces discussed in Bayer (1961), but variability of these characters has been noted (Deichmann, 1936). The SERTC and USNM colonies are all unbranched, slender colonies (1–2 mm exclusive of calyces) with calyces arranged biserially in a row on each side in a somewhat alternating pattern. The calyces are very prominent and sometimes upturned, except in a few areas where the coenenchyme appears ‘inflated’ and the calyces are reduced in prominence. The color of the preserved colonies varies from pale to deep orange, with a solid, white core. As is diagnostic of this family, the calcified axis exhibits a radial pattern in cross section. In some cases where the calyces are not as prominent, the slender colonies of C. barbadensis may resemble colonies of Leptogorgia euryale or L. stheno; microscopic examination of the axis characteristics and absence of red spindles will readily distinguish C. barbadensis from members of the Gorgoniidae.
The sclerites examined from the tip of the USNM specimen are dominated by amber, tuberculated double heads, double cones and warty rods. Other specimens examined contain double heads that are more coarsely tuberculated, perhaps a function of the location of the subsample on the colony. Many of the double-headed sclerites have a notable degree of granulation on the tips of the tubercules. As is typical with this genus, the largest double cones or spindles are no more than twice the length of the double heads.
This species can reach a very large size in some parts of the tropical Atlantic, reaching a few meters in length and almost a centimeter in diameter.
Note: A small ellisellid fragment was found among a lot of Leptogorgia specimens and was tentatively identified as Ctenocella (Ellisella) cf. schmitti (O. Breedy, pers. comm.). The fragment is too small to reveal the characteristic branching of this species, thus precluding the addition of C. schmitti to this guide. Although there are no records of C. schmitti occurring north of Boca Raton, Florida (approximately 26°22’ N), the presence of C. schmitti in the shallow South Atlantic Bight is possible.

Atlantic distribution: South Carolina to Brazil, Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean, 12-453 m (Deichmann, 1936; Bayer, 1961; NMNH collections; SERTC collection).

Figure 1. Ctenocella (Ellisella) barbadensis, preserved specimens (S2629), sections of colony stem (scale bars = 1 mm respectively)

Figure 2. Solid axis of Ctenocella (Ellisella) barbadensis (USNM 50395, scale bar = 0.5mm).

Figure 3. Sclerites of Ctenocella (Ellisella) barbadensis (USNM 50395); a-e)double heads from coenenchyme; f) flattened double cone from calyx; g) small flattened rod from polyp (scale bar = 20 µm).