. Bulletin. Science. 1 AOi Fig. 7. Muricea appressa. Type, MCZ 383. A, calyx sclerites; B, coenenchyme sclerites. Discussion At present, 24 species of Muricea have been described from the eastern Pacific (Verrill 1869; Kukenthal 1924; Aurivillius 1931; Deichmann 1936; Stasny 1943). Some of these species have been described from only a few specimens, or even pieces of specimens. Verrill (1864) did not give adequate information on the locations of the sclerites within the colony, and used subjective characters such as whether a sclerite was "long" or "; Kukenthal provid
. Bulletin. Science. 1 AOi Fig. 7. Muricea appressa. Type, MCZ 383. A, calyx sclerites; B, coenenchyme sclerites. Discussion At present, 24 species of Muricea have been described from the eastern Pacific (Verrill 1869; Kukenthal 1924; Aurivillius 1931; Deichmann 1936; Stasny 1943). Some of these species have been described from only a few specimens, or even pieces of specimens. Verrill (1864) did not give adequate information on the locations of the sclerites within the colony, and used subjective characters such as whether a sclerite was "long" or "; Kukenthal provided no illustrations and gave no basis for comparing calyx size. None of the existing descriptions provides much information on variation in color, growth form or size within a species, yet gorgonians are known to vary greatly according to all of these fea- tures. Because gorgonians generally live on subtidal rocky substrates, they were difficult to collect prior to the invention of SCUBA gear. Of the three species discussed in this paper, M. fruticosa is the most distinct. The color pattern is characteristic: the colony seems to fade from reddish-orange in the distal branches and terminals to the light yellow or even almost white color on the proximal main branches and trunk. The arrangement of the outer coenen- chyme sclerites also is characteristic. Extremely long sclerites, visible to the naked eye, lie prominently on the coenenchyme, often curving around the calyces. The. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Southern California Academy of Sciences. Los Angeles, Calif. : The Academy
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