saltn00b
Active Member
Doughnut, Cat's Eye, Knob, Beaker, Flat Brain, or Modern Meat? A review of what are Scolymia and Cynarina, with comments on their relatives and taxonomical status
Mussid corals are high on my list of favorite corals for many reasons. Most are easy to care for, they have large fleshy polyps, commonly with fluorescent colors, they respond dramatically to food additions, and they are relatively slow growing so they don’t require frequent pruning. They are also not especially aggressive. For these reasons they are popular among aquarists, who know them as, among other names, Doughnut coral, Flat Brain coral, Modern Meat Coral, or just Meat coral. The meaty association is a reference to the polyps’ fleshiness and also to the common red coloration.
A group of related genera of mussids have produced a confusion of identity among aquarium hobbyists that is not surprising. The scientific literature about them is full of confusion as well because the appearance of the living polyps and skeletons is often so similar between species or genera, or so different WITHIN species and genera, that lines of distinction can seem blurry. With this article I intend to sort out the differences among Cynarina and Scolymia species, to help clarify their identification. The article will also serve to point out in greater detail some taxonomical revisions I suggested in the second and later editions of my book Corals: A Quick reference Guide. I will also propose a few new ideas about how these difficulties could be sorted out. The reader should be careful to note that the revisions I am suggesting here have not been applied to the present taxonomy.
What is Scolymia?
Scolymia cubensis from Brazil. Bright fluorescent green is the most common color, but they may also be gray, brown, red, or multi colored.
The genus Scolymia consists of two recognized species in the Indo-Pacific region and one in the Caribbean. The Indo Pacific forms are S. vitiensis, which is common, and S. australis, which is uncommon. Scolymia australis is not easily distinguished from small solitary polyps of Lobophyllia hemprichii, Lobophyllia robusta, and Symphyllia valenciennesi, so that small round polyps that appear to be Scolymia australis often are not. In the Caribbean a similar problem exists for the coral Mussa angulosa, (which is basically a Caribbean species of Lobophyllia). Solitary polyps of Mussa were once called Scolymia lacera. Fenner (1993) recognized this synonymy and this left one species, S. cubensis a.k.a. S. wellsi, which occurs in Florida and the Caribbean, and becomes abundant in Brazil. In Florida and the Caribbean there is another Scolymia-confusing coral: Mycetophyllia danaana. Newly settled single polyps of this coral especially, as well as its sister species Mycetophyllia aliciae, are round and fleshy and often indistinguishable from Scolymia cubensis. As Mycetophyllia danaana grow, they form new centers and lobes so that a many lobed flat colony forms. It could be argued that true Scolymia cubensis is really just a solitary polyp forming species of Mycetophyllia. That logic could similarly be used with S. australis, which could be simply a solitary polyp species of Lobophyllia. Where would that leave Scolymia vitiensis? That species is distinctively different from the other two, being flatter, larger, and not as fleshy as the others. It can occur as solitary polyps or with multiple centers. The colonies with multiple centers are practically indistinguishable from another mussid genus, Australomussa. Following the logic of my earlier groupings, Scolymia vitiensis could simply be a species of Australomussa. Since the name Scolymia is older than Australomussa, there is a bit of a problem with this idea, since the convention of nomenclature gives precedence to the older names. A revision could eliminate the genus Australomussa, changing it to Scolymia. Thus there would be Scolymia rowleyensis, and Scolymia vitiensis would remain unchanged. The other species of "Scolymia" would be synonymized as follows: Mycetophyllia cubensis, Lobophyllia australis.
It is important to point out that these revisions are just musings on my part, albeit with valid reasoning. The most current taxonomical status of these corals is represented in Veron (2000).
Mussid corals are high on my list of favorite corals for many reasons. Most are easy to care for, they have large fleshy polyps, commonly with fluorescent colors, they respond dramatically to food additions, and they are relatively slow growing so they don’t require frequent pruning. They are also not especially aggressive. For these reasons they are popular among aquarists, who know them as, among other names, Doughnut coral, Flat Brain coral, Modern Meat Coral, or just Meat coral. The meaty association is a reference to the polyps’ fleshiness and also to the common red coloration.
A group of related genera of mussids have produced a confusion of identity among aquarium hobbyists that is not surprising. The scientific literature about them is full of confusion as well because the appearance of the living polyps and skeletons is often so similar between species or genera, or so different WITHIN species and genera, that lines of distinction can seem blurry. With this article I intend to sort out the differences among Cynarina and Scolymia species, to help clarify their identification. The article will also serve to point out in greater detail some taxonomical revisions I suggested in the second and later editions of my book Corals: A Quick reference Guide. I will also propose a few new ideas about how these difficulties could be sorted out. The reader should be careful to note that the revisions I am suggesting here have not been applied to the present taxonomy.
What is Scolymia?
Scolymia cubensis from Brazil. Bright fluorescent green is the most common color, but they may also be gray, brown, red, or multi colored.
The genus Scolymia consists of two recognized species in the Indo-Pacific region and one in the Caribbean. The Indo Pacific forms are S. vitiensis, which is common, and S. australis, which is uncommon. Scolymia australis is not easily distinguished from small solitary polyps of Lobophyllia hemprichii, Lobophyllia robusta, and Symphyllia valenciennesi, so that small round polyps that appear to be Scolymia australis often are not. In the Caribbean a similar problem exists for the coral Mussa angulosa, (which is basically a Caribbean species of Lobophyllia). Solitary polyps of Mussa were once called Scolymia lacera. Fenner (1993) recognized this synonymy and this left one species, S. cubensis a.k.a. S. wellsi, which occurs in Florida and the Caribbean, and becomes abundant in Brazil. In Florida and the Caribbean there is another Scolymia-confusing coral: Mycetophyllia danaana. Newly settled single polyps of this coral especially, as well as its sister species Mycetophyllia aliciae, are round and fleshy and often indistinguishable from Scolymia cubensis. As Mycetophyllia danaana grow, they form new centers and lobes so that a many lobed flat colony forms. It could be argued that true Scolymia cubensis is really just a solitary polyp forming species of Mycetophyllia. That logic could similarly be used with S. australis, which could be simply a solitary polyp species of Lobophyllia. Where would that leave Scolymia vitiensis? That species is distinctively different from the other two, being flatter, larger, and not as fleshy as the others. It can occur as solitary polyps or with multiple centers. The colonies with multiple centers are practically indistinguishable from another mussid genus, Australomussa. Following the logic of my earlier groupings, Scolymia vitiensis could simply be a species of Australomussa. Since the name Scolymia is older than Australomussa, there is a bit of a problem with this idea, since the convention of nomenclature gives precedence to the older names. A revision could eliminate the genus Australomussa, changing it to Scolymia. Thus there would be Scolymia rowleyensis, and Scolymia vitiensis would remain unchanged. The other species of "Scolymia" would be synonymized as follows: Mycetophyllia cubensis, Lobophyllia australis.
It is important to point out that these revisions are just musings on my part, albeit with valid reasoning. The most current taxonomical status of these corals is represented in Veron (2000).