Rolandia coralloides

Erling Svensen Could this specie be Sarcodictyon roseum, do you think? The C. cornucopiae have not been seen in Norway yet. How do you see the different? The picture is from 10 meters deep, Egersund harbour, and the animals is aprox. 1,5 cm high.

Bernard Picton Dr. Pablo J. Lopez-Gonzalez from Seville recently contacted me to point out that the names I've been using for these small octocorals are wrong. The correct name for Sarcodictyon roseum from the NE Atlantic is Sarcodictyon catenata and it is uncertain which Mediterranean species is Evagora roseum. I don't know if it is possible to distinguish these stoloniferous octocorals from their polyps alone. Cornularia cornucopiae is a common Mediterranean species, but the one which was found by Richard Manuel in SW England is a species of Cervera, possibly Cervera atlantica. Pablo is looking for specimens for DNA and morphological studies.

Erling Svensen I will post what Torleiv Brattegard in Bergen said about this here as well (did it in the Nudi forum). Hello again I have looked at Worms (www.marinespecies.org) and looked at Stolonifera which now has the status of the order. There are 6 families in Stolonifera totaling 29 families so there is little to take off. I went into the family Sarcodictyon which listed eight species. The information about all species are controlled by a Dutchman - Leen van Ofwegen - a little messy specialist!. It is strange that information about the distribution given only for Sarcodictyon roseum, and it is reported from the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean. Now S. roseum described from the Mediterranean by the German Rudolph Amandus Philippi (1808-1904) and S. catenate append tar by the Englishman Edward Forbes (1815-1854). Forbes took part in an expedition to the Mediterranean in 1841-42, and his art is described in 1847. So there is a possibility that his art can come from Britain or the Mediterranean Sea. Now I have been looking in the Oscar Carlgren (1865-1954) his book on Koraldyr (in Danish fauna vol 51, 1945), and there are mentioned only Sarcodictyon catenatum Forbes in Scandinavia and spread with the same depth as I mentioned in my previous email. Things indicate that Lopez-Gonzalez and Picton's right, and that Carlgren was a good specialist. I should probably change the information I have on my list!! best Regards Torleiv

Wilfried Bay-Nouailhat To complete the discussion, here are three documents. Herdmann's detailed description of S. catenatum http://www.archive.org/download/proceedingsofroy8roya/proceedingsofroy8roya.pdf an other one http://www.repository.naturalis.nl/document/44307 and finally a comparison between S. catenatum and S. rosea http://www.repository.naturalis.nl/document/149348

Bernard Picton Wilfried, thanks for your help in untangling this! Here is the 1995 paper on Cornularia and Cervera: http://www.repository.naturalis.nl/document/150498 As I read it the Sarcodictyon roseum in the 1992 paper becomes Rolandia coralloides of the 2000 paper.

George Brown I've been calling this Sarcodictyon roseum. http://www.facebook.com/groups/NE.Atlantic.nudibranchs/168495086595113/#!/photo.php?fbid=3388776130893&set=a.3388774370849.144526.1614272106&type=1&theater