WILLIAMS & CHEN: GORGONIANS AND PENNATULACEANS 85 
OF THE VERDE ISLAND PASSAGE 
Family Virgulariidae Verrill, 1868 
Genus Scytalium Herklots, 1858 
Scytalium cf. sarsi Herklots, 1858 
Figures 36B, 40B 
Material Examined.— CASIZ 185443, Philippines, Luzon, Batangas Province, Calumpan 
Peninsula, Maricaban Strait, Basketball dive site (13.68594°N, 120. 89172°E), 14 May 2011, coll. 
G C. Williams, one specimen wet-preserved 95% ethanol. 
Remarks. — Colonies in life often take on the appearance of dark red to violet-colored feath¬ 
ers. The sclerites are abundant, oval-shaped plates (<0.05 mm in length) throughout most of the 
near-surface tissues of the colonies. Members of two of the fifteen families of pennatulaceans (Vir¬ 
gulariidae and Pennatulidae) give the group its names due to their resemblance to feathers or feath¬ 
er pens. 
This appearance is provided by the presence of conspicuous polyp leaves in two longitudinal 
rows that emanate from the lateral margins of the rachis. 
Species. — Six species have been described, of which perhaps only two or three are valid 
(Williams, 1995:124). 
Distribution. — Indo-West Pacific: the Red Sea and southeastern Africa to Indonesia, the 
Philippines, Taiwan, China, and Japan. 
References. — Gosliner, Behrens, and Williams (1996:58); Williams (2011:3, 6, 9). 
Genus Virgularia Lamarck, 1816 
Virgularia spp. 
Figure 38 
Material Examined.— CASIZ 180146, Philippines, Luzon, Batangas Province, Calumpan 
Peninsula, Batangas Bay, Mainit Bubbles dive site (13.7615972°N, 12L3834889°E), 19 m depth, 
22 April 2018, coll. G C. Williams, one whole specimen wet-preserved 75% ethanol. 
Remarks. — Colonies have a conspicuous feather-like appearance in life. Sclerites are absent 
throughout the tissues of the colonies except for minute oval bodies (< 0.01 mm in length) that are 
present in the interior of the peduncles. Color is variable: cream white or milky white with semi¬ 
transparent polyp leaves, to brown, red, violet, or multicolored. 
Species. — Fifty-six species are described, of which twenty-one are currently recognized 
(Williams 1995.T25); WoRMS 2013). 
Distribution. — The distribution of the genus is circumglobal: throughout the Pacific and 
Indian Oceans, as well as the Atlantic Ocean including the Mediterranean Sea. 
References. — Fabricius et al. (2007:91); Gosliner, Behrens, and Williams (1996:58-59); 
Williams(2011:3, 6, 9). 
Family Pennatulidae Ehrenberg, 1834 
Genus Pteroeides Herklots, 1858 
Pteroeides spp. 
Figures 39, 40C 
Material Examined.— CASIZ 190421, Philippines, Luzon, Batangas Province, Calumpan 
Peninsula, Batangas Bay, Mainit Bubbles, 19 m depth, 17 November 2012, coll. G. C. Williams, 
one whole specimen wet-preserved 95% ethanol; CASIZ 185934, Philippines, Luzon, Batangas 
Province, Maricaban Island, Sepok Point (13.688°N, 120.827°E), 15 May 2011, coll. G. C. 
