GULF OF MEXICO 



283 



the Texas coast (one unpublished record in the 

 U. S. National Museum) needs to be verified. 



In the deeper waters (10-500 fathoms) of the 

 southeastern Gulf, practically all of the alcyo- 

 narians are West Indian species belonging to 

 genera of wide distribution. The Gorgonellidae, 

 Chrysogorgiidac, Primnoidae, and Muriceidae re- 

 place in predominance the plexaurids and gor- 

 goniids of very shallow water. Most of the species 

 are widespread throughout the Antilles and prob- 

 ably also in the Caribbean. From the occurrence 

 of such characteristic forms as Bebryce grandis 

 and Scleracis guadalupensis in the extreme north- 

 ern Gulf, it is probably safe to assume that a 

 good proportion of the West Indian species are 

 present throughout the Gulf of Mexico wherever 

 bottom conditions permit. There is -no evidence 

 as to the composition of the alcyonarian fauna of 

 this bathymetric range in the western part of the 

 Gulf, and intensive collecting should be done in 

 that region to clarify the distribution patterns of 

 the West Indian species as they enter the Gulf of 

 Mexico. 



The limited deep-sea dredging which has been 

 done in the Gulf of Mexico has resulted in very 

 few alcyonarian records. The isidid gorgonian, 

 AcaneUa eburnea, which was taken in depths 

 ranging from less than 200 to above 950 fathoms 

 in the Gulf of Mexico, is also known from the 

 northwestern Atlantic, the West Indies and Car- 

 ibbean, the coast of Brazil, and the eastern Atlan- 

 tic, always at considerable depths. Beyond the 

 1,000-fathom contour, three pennatulid species 

 have been dredged: Umbellula giintheri, U. lin- 

 dahlii, and Funiculina quad ran gularis , all of which 

 also occur at extreme depths in the northern and 

 eastern Atlantic. 



There seems to be no truly endemic element in 

 the alcyonarian fauna of the Gulf of Mexico. 

 The strictly shallow-water forms of the northern 

 half are also the predominant species along the 

 Carolina-Georgia coast, while those of the south- 

 ern part are typically West Indian. The species 

 of moderate depths throughout the Gulf are 

 West Indian, and a northern element does not 

 appear to be present. Finally, the character- 

 istically deep-sea forms thus far known from the 

 Gulf are of wide distribution at similar depths 

 throughout the Atlantic and are possibly even 

 cosmopolitan. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 



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 1952. New western Atlantic records of octocorals 

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Deichmann, Elisabeth. 



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1916. Die Gorgonarien Westindiens. Kap. 1, Die 

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1916. Die Gorgonarien Westindiens. Kap. 4. — Die 

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