WoRMS

WoRMS taxon details

Orbicella Dana, 1846

Holotype of Madrepora annularis Ellis & Solander

AphiaID

758259 (urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:758259)

Classification

Status

accepted

Rank

Genus

Typetaxon

Madrepora annularis Ellis & Solander, 1786 accepted as Orbicella annularis (Ellis & Solander, 1786) (type by subsequent designation)

Typetaxon of

Orbicellidae Verrill, 1901
Orbicellidae Vaughan, 1902
Orbicellidae Verrill, 1901
Orbicellidae Vaughan, 1902

Parent

Merulinidae Milne Edwards & Haime, 1857

Orig. name

Astraea (Orbicella) Dana, 1846

Synonymised names

Astraea (Orbicella) Dana, 1846 · unaccepted > superseded combination

Direct children (106)

Ordering

Alphabetically
By status

Children Display

direct main ranks all

Species Orbicella altissima (Duncan, 1868) †
Species Orbicella annularis (Ellis & Solander, 1786)
Species Orbicella antillarum (Duncan, 1863) †
Species Orbicella boehmi Felix, 1915 †
Species Orbicella brancae Felix, 1913 †
Species Orbicella carnegiei Latham, 1829 †
Species Orbicella comalensis Wells, 1932 †
Species Orbicella craterophora Felix, 1915 †
Species Orbicella cyclommatos Felix, 1921 †
Species Orbicella edwardsensis Wells, 1933 †
Species Orbicella farquharsoni Latham, 1829 †
Species Orbicella faveolata (Ellis & Solander, 1786)
Species Orbicella felixi Gerth, 1923 †
Species Orbicella francqana (Milne Edwards & Haime, 1857) †
Species Orbicella franksi (Gregory, 1895)
Species Orbicella herklotsi (Duncan, 1864) †
Species Orbicella imperatoris Vaughan, 1919 †
Species Orbicella insignis (Duncan, 1868) †
Species Orbicella intermedia (Duncan, 1863) †
Species Orbicella limbata (Duncan, 1863) †
Species Orbicella linggapadangensis Umbgrove, 1946 †
Species Orbicella murrayi Gregory, 1900 †
Species Orbicella pleiades (Lamarck, 1816) †
Species Orbicella praeheliopora Gregory, 1900 †
Species Orbicella quadrangularis (Milne Edwards & Haime, 1849) †
Species Orbicella riemsdycki (Milne Edwards & Haime, 1851) †
Species Orbicella roemeriana Wells, 1933 †
Species Orbicella rotula (Goldfuss, 1826) †
Species Orbicella schweinfurthi (Felix, 1884) †
Species Orbicella transiens Felix, 1921 †
Species Orbicella whitneyi Wells, 1932 †
Subgenus Orbicella (Leptastraea) Milne Edwards & Haime, 1849 accepted as Leptastrea Milne Edwards & Haime, 1849 (unaccepted > misspelling - incorrect subsequent spelling)
1. Species Orbicella (Leptastraea) bottae (Milne Edwards & Haime, 1849) accepted as Leptastrea bottae (Milne Edwards & Haime, 1849) (unaccepted > superseded combination, basionym)
2. Species Orbicella (Leptastraea) bottai (Milne Edwards & Haime, 1849) accepted as Leptastrea bottae (Milne Edwards & Haime, 1849) (unaccepted > superseded combination)
3. Species Orbicella (Leptastraea) ehrenbergiana (Milne Edwards & Haime, 1849) accepted as Leptastrea purpurea (Dana, 1846) (unaccepted > junior subjective synonym)
4. Species Orbicella (Leptastraea) immersa (Klunzinger, 1879) accepted as Leptastrea bottae (Milne Edwards & Haime, 1849) (unaccepted > junior subjective synonym)
5. Species Orbicella (Leptastraea) inaequalis (Klunzinger, 1879) accepted as Leptastrea inaequalis Klunzinger, 1879 (unaccepted > superseded combination, misspelling)
Subgenus Orbicella (Leptastrea) Milne Edwards & Haime, 1849 accepted as Leptastrea Milne Edwards & Haime, 1849 (unaccepted > junior subjective synonym)
1. Species Orbicella (Leptastrea) bottae (Milne Edwards & Haime, 1849) accepted as Leptastrea bottae (Milne Edwards & Haime, 1849) (unaccepted > superseded combination)
2. Species Orbicella (Leptastrea) inaequalis (Klunzinger, 1879) accepted as Leptastrea inaequalis Klunzinger, 1879 (unaccepted > superseded combination)
Species Orbicella abdita (Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1860) accepted as Solenastrea bournoni Milne Edwards & Haime, 1849 (unaccepted > junior subjective synonym)
Species Orbicella acropora (Linnaeus, 1767) accepted as Orbicella annularis (Ellis & Solander, 1786) (unaccepted > junior subjective synonym)
Species Orbicella annuligera Vaughan, 1907 accepted as Plesiastrea peroni Milne Edwards & Haime, 1857 (unaccepted > junior subjective synonym, homonymy)
Species Orbicella annuligera (Milne Edwards & Haime, 1849) accepted as Astrea annuligera Milne Edwards & Haime, 1849 (unaccepted > superseded combination)
Species Orbicella aperta (Verrill, 1868) accepted as Mussismilia leptophylla (Verrill, 1868) (unaccepted > junior subjective synonym)
Species Orbicella argus (Lamarck, 1801) accepted as Montastraea cavernosa (Linnaeus, 1767) (unaccepted > junior subjective synonym)
Species Orbicella bainbridgensis Vaughan, 1919 † accepted as Montastraea endothecata (Duncan, 1863) † (unaccepted > junior subjective synonym)
Species Orbicella borradailei Gardiner, 1904 accepted as Dipsastraea favus (Forskål, 1775) (unaccepted > junior subjective synonym)
Species Orbicella bottae (Milne Edwards & Haime, 1849) accepted as Leptastrea bottae (Milne Edwards & Haime, 1849) (unaccepted > superseded combination)
Species Orbicella braziliana Verrill, 1901 accepted as Montastraea cavernosa (Linnaeus, 1767) (unaccepted > junior subjective synonym)
Species Orbicella brevis (Duncan, 1864) † accepted as Montastraea brevis (Duncan, 1864) † (unaccepted > superseded combination)
Species Orbicella canalis Vaughan, 1919 † accepted as Montastraea endothecata (Duncan, 1863) † (unaccepted > junior subjective synonym)
Species Orbicella cavernosa (Linnaeus, 1767) accepted as Montastraea cavernosa (Linnaeus, 1767) (unaccepted > superseded combination)
Species Orbicella cellulosa (Duncan, 1863) † accepted as Antiguastrea cellulosa (Duncan, 1863) † (unaccepted > junior subjective synonym)
Species Orbicella conferta Umbgrove, 1925 † accepted as Montastraea conferta (Umbgrove, 1925) † (basionym, changed combination)
Species Orbicella coronata (Dana, 1846) accepted as Astrea curta (Dana, 1846) (unaccepted > junior subjective synonym)
Species Orbicella coronata (Reuss, 1854) † accepted as Placocoenia coronata (Reuss, 1854) † (unaccepted > superseded combination)
Species Orbicella costata (Duncan, 1863) † accepted as Montastraea endothecata (Duncan, 1863) † (unaccepted > junior subjective synonym)
Species Orbicella cumutensis Hoffmeister, 1926 † accepted as Montastraea trinitatis (Vaughan, 1926) † (unaccepted > junior subjective synonym)
Species Orbicella curta (Dana, 1846) accepted as Astrea curta (Dana, 1846) (unaccepted > superseded combination)
Species Orbicella edwardsi (Reuss, 1854) † accepted as Oulastrea edwardsi Reuss, 1854 † (unaccepted > superseded combination)
Species Orbicella ehrenbergiana (Milne Edwards & Haime, 1849) accepted as Leptastrea purpurea (Dana, 1846) (unaccepted > junior subjective synonym)
Species Orbicella forskalana Milne Edwards & Haime, 1849 accepted as Echinopora forskaliana (Milne Edwards & Haime, 1849) (unaccepted > superseded combination, misspelling)
Species Orbicella funafutensis Gardiner, 1899 accepted as Astrea curta (Dana, 1846) (unaccepted > junior subjective synonym)
Species Orbicella gabbi Vaughan, 1919 † accepted as Montastraea gabbi (Vaughan, 1919) † (unaccepted > superseded combination)
Species Orbicella glaucopsis (Dana, 1846) accepted as Diploastrea heliopora (Lamarck, 1816) (unaccepted > junior subjective synonym, misspelling)
Species Orbicella gravieri Vaughan, 1918 accepted as Plesiastrea peroni Milne Edwards & Haime, 1857 (unaccepted > junior subjective synonym)
Species Orbicella heliopora (Lamarck, 1816) accepted as Diploastrea heliopora (Lamarck, 1816) (unaccepted > superseded combination)
Species Orbicella hirtella Verrill, 1901 (unaccepted > nomen nudum)
Species Orbicella hispidula Verrill, 1901 accepted as Orbicella annularis (Ellis & Solander, 1786) (unaccepted > junior subjective synonym)
Species Orbicella hyades (Dana, 1846) accepted as Solenastrea hyades (Dana, 1846) (unaccepted > superseded combination)
Species Orbicella immersa (Klunzinger, 1879) accepted as Leptastrea bottae (Milne Edwards & Haime, 1849) (unaccepted > junior subjective synonym)
Species Orbicella klunzingeri Gardiner, 1899 accepted as Leptastrea purpurea (Dana, 1846) (unaccepted > junior subjective synonym)
Species Orbicella laxa Klunzinger, 1879 accepted as Dipsastraea laxa (Klunzinger, 1879) (unaccepted > superseded combination, basionym)
Species Orbicella mammilosa Klunzinger, 1879 accepted as Echinopora gemmacea (Lamarck, 1816) (unaccepted > junior subjective synonym)
Species Orbicella maxima Umbgrove, 1925 † accepted as Montastraea maxima (Umbgrove, 1925) † (unaccepted > superseded combination, basionym)
Species Orbicella microphthalma (Lamarck, 1816) accepted as Cyphastrea microphthalma (Lamarck, 1816) (unaccepted > superseded combination)
Species Orbicella minikoensis Gardiner, 1904 accepted as Diploastrea heliopora (Lamarck, 1816) (unaccepted > junior subjective synonym, misspelling)
Species Orbicella minikoiensis Gardiner, 1904 accepted as Diploastrea heliopora (Lamarck, 1816) (unaccepted > junior subjective synonym)
Species Orbicella ocellina (Dana, 1846) accepted as Cyphastrea ocellina (Dana, 1846) (unaccepted > superseded combination)
Species Orbicella orion Dana, 1846 accepted as Goniastrea stelligera (Dana, 1846) (unaccepted > junior subjective synonym)
Species Orbicella paronai Zuffardi-Comerci, 1932 † accepted as Diploastraea paronai (Zuffardi-Comerci, 1932) † (unaccepted > superseded combination, basionym)
Species Orbicella patula (Dana, 1846) accepted as Diploastrea heliopora (Lamarck, 1816) (unaccepted > junior subjective synonym)
Species Orbicella pecosensis Wells, 1933 † accepted as Stephanocoenia pecosensis (Wells, 1933) † (unaccepted > superseded combination, basionym)
Species Orbicella prehaliopora Gregory, 1900 † accepted as Orbicella praeheliopora Gregory, 1900 † (unaccepted > misspelling - incorrect subsequent spelling)
Species Orbicella radiata (Ellis & Solander, 1786) accepted as Montastraea cavernosa (Linnaeus, 1767) (unaccepted > junior subjective synonym)
Species Orbicella rotumana Gardiner, 1899 accepted as Astrea curta (Dana, 1846) (unaccepted > junior subjective synonym)
Species Orbicella solidior (Milne Edwards & Haime, 1849) accepted as Astrea curta (Dana, 1846) (unaccepted > junior subjective synonym)
Species Orbicella stelligera (Dana, 1846) accepted as Goniastrea stelligera (Dana, 1846) (unaccepted > superseded combination)
Species Orbicella stellulata (Ellis & Solander, 1786) accepted as Orbicella annularis (Ellis & Solander, 1786) (unaccepted > junior subjective synonym)
Species Orbicella tampaensis Vaughan, 1919 † accepted as Montastraea canalis (Vaughan, 1919) † (unaccepted > junior subjective synonym)
Species Orbicella tenuis (Duncan, 1863) accepted as Agathiphyllia tenuis (Duncan, 1863) † (unaccepted > superseded combination)
Species Orbicella travisensis Wells, 1932 † accepted as Stephanocoenia travisensis (Wells, 1932) † (unaccepted > superseded combination, basionym)
Species Orbicella trinitatis Vaughan, 1926 † accepted as Montastraea trinitatis (Vaughan, 1926) † (unaccepted > superseded combination, basionym)
Species Orbicella vacua Crossland, 1952 accepted as Astrea curta (Dana, 1846) (unaccepted > junior subjective synonym)
Species Orbicella versipora (Lamarck, 1816) accepted as Plesiastrea versipora (Lamarck, 1816) (unaccepted > superseded combination)
Species Orbicella wakayama Gardiner, 1899 accepted as Astrea curta (Dana, 1846) (unaccepted > junior subjective synonym, misspelling)
Species Orbicella wakayana Gardiner, 1899 accepted as Astrea curta (Dana, 1846) (unaccepted > junior subjective synonym)
Species Orbicella aucta Brüggemann, 1878 (uncertain > taxon inquirendum)
Species Orbicella excelsa (Dana, 1846) (uncertain > taxon inquirendum)
Species Orbicella fijiensis Hoffmeister, 1945 † (uncertain > taxon inquirendum)
Species Orbicella forskali (Milne Edwards & Haime, 1849) (uncertain > taxon inquirendum)
Species Orbicella lauensis Hoffmeister, 1945 † (uncertain > taxon inquirendum)
Species Orbicella simonyi (Reuss, 1854) † (uncertain > taxon inquirendum, changed combination)
Species Orbicella sukunai Hoffmeister, 1945 † (uncertain > taxon inquirendum)
Species Orbicella texana Vaughan, 1903 † (uncertain > taxon inquirendum)

Environment

marine, ~~fresh~~, ~~terrestrial~~

Original description

Dana, J.D. (1846-1849). Zoophytes. United States Exploring Expedition during the years 1838-1842. Lea and Blanchard, Philadelphia. 7: 1-740, 61 pls. (1846: 1-120, 709-720; 1848: 121-708, 721-740; 1849: atlas pls. 1-61)., available online at http://www.sil.si.edu/digitalcollections/usexex/navigation/ScientificText/USExEx19_08select.cfm [details]

(of Astraea (Orbicella) Dana, 1846) Dana, J.D. (1846-1849). Zoophytes. United States Exploring Expedition during the years 1838-1842. Lea and Blanchard, Philadelphia. 7: 1-740, 61 pls. (1846: 1-120, 709-720; 1848: 121-708, 721-740; 1849: atlas pls. 1-61)., available online at http://www.sil.si.edu/digitalcollections/usexex/navigation/ScientificText/USExEx19_08select.cfm [details]

Descriptive notes

Description 'Cells nearly circular, more or less prominent, not subdividing by growth, or rarely so; stars with distinct limits formed...

Description 'Cells nearly circular, more or less prominent, not subdividing by growth, or rarely so; stars with distinct limits formed by the coalescence laterally of the lamellae, and therefore cells appearing tubular, and separated by interstices' (Dana, 1846: 205) [details]

Taxonomic citation

Hoeksema, B. W.; Cairns, S. (2024). World List of Scleractinia. Orbicella Dana, 1846. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=758259 on 2024-05-04

Taxonomic edit history

Date

action

2014-03-16 13:26:33Z

created

Hoeksema, Bert

2019-01-01 17:32:59Z

changed

Hoeksema, Bert

2022-06-06 06:39:23Z

changed

Hoeksema, Bert

2022-11-25 10:16:10Z

changed

Hoeksema, Bert

Licensing

The webpage text is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License

[taxonomic tree]

original description Dana, J.D. (1846-1849). Zoophytes. United States Exploring Expedition during the years 1838-1842. Lea and Blanchard, Philadelphia. 7: 1-740, 61 pls. (1846: 1-120, 709-720; 1848: 121-708, 721-740; 1849: atlas pls. 1-61)., available online at http://www.sil.si.edu/digitalcollections/usexex/navigation/ScientificText/USExEx19_08select.cfm [details]

original description (of Astraea (Orbicella) Dana, 1846) Dana, J.D. (1846-1849). Zoophytes. United States Exploring Expedition during the years 1838-1842. Lea and Blanchard, Philadelphia. 7: 1-740, 61 pls. (1846: 1-120, 709-720; 1848: 121-708, 721-740; 1849: atlas pls. 1-61)., available online at http://www.sil.si.edu/digitalcollections/usexex/navigation/ScientificText/USExEx19_08select.cfm [details]

basis of record Budd AF, Fukami H, Smith ND, Knowlton N. (2012). Taxonomic classification of the reef coral family Mussidae (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Scleractinia). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 166 (3): 465-529., available online at https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1096-3642.2012.00855.x [details]

additional source Yabe H, Sugiyama T. (1935). Revised list of the reef-corals from the Japanese seas and of the fossil reef corals of the raised reefs and the Ryukyu limestone of Japan. Journal of the Geological Society of Japan. 42: 379-403.
page(s): 384 [details]

additional source Bassett-Smith, P.W. (1890). Report on the corals from Tizard and Macclesfield Banks, China Sea. Annals and Magazine of Natural History,. 6(35): 353-374, 443-458, pls. 12-14., available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/00222939008694050
page(s): 359, 374 [details]

additional source Huang D, Benzoni F, Fukami H, Knowlton N, Smith ND, Budd AF (2014) Taxonomic classification of the reef coral families Merulinidae, Montastraeidae, and Diploastraeidae (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Scleractinia). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 171: 277–355. [details]

Present

Inaccurate

Introduced: alien

Containing type locality

Nontype BMNH, geounit Taiwanese Exclusive Economic Zone [details]

From editor or global species database

Comparison The present Orbicella members form a very well-supported clade, and a sister-clade relationship with Cyphastrea is recovered but not supported. It is remarkable that these two genera are recovered as sister taxa on the morphology tree, particularly because they differ in up to four macromorphological characters, two of which being the only synapomorphies inferred for Orbicella—equal costosepta thickness and large columellae. Costate coenosteum and the lack of paliform lobes also distinguish Orbicella from Cyphastrea, which has spinose coenosteum and weak or moderate development of paliform lobes. However, their affinity to each other may be expected in the context of subcorallite characters, which show that they share all but two features of irregular granule shape and partial paratheca in Orbicella, rather than strong, pointed granules and no paratheca at all in Cyphastrea. [details]

Diagnosis Colonial, with extracalicular budding only. Corallites monomorphic and discrete (1–3 centers); monticules absent. Coenosteum costate, moderate amount (< corallite diameter). Calice width small (< 4 mm), with low relief (< 3 mm). Costosepta not confluent. Septa in 3 cycles (24–36 septa). Free septa regular. Septa spaced > 11 septa per 5 mm. Costosepta equal in relative thickness. Columellae trabecular but compact (1–3 threads), ≥ 1/4 of calice width, and discontinuous among adjacent corallites. Paliform (uniaxial) lobes absent. Epitheca well developed and endotheca low-moderate (tabular). Tooth base at mid-calice circular. Tooth tip at mid-calice irregular; tip orientation multiaxial. Tooth height low (< 0.3 mm) and tooth spacing narrow (< 0.3 mm), with > 6 teeth per septum. Granules scattered on septal face; irregular in shape. Interarea smooth. Walls formed by dominant septotheca and partial paratheca; abortive septa absent. Thickening deposits fibrous. Costa center clusters weak; 0.3–0.6 mm between clusters; medial lines weak. Septum center clusters weak; < 0.3 mm between clusters; medial lines weak. Transverse crosses absent. Columella centers clustered. [details]

Remark The three Caribbean members of this genus used to be known as the Montastraea annularis complex (Knowlton et al., 1992; Weil and Knowlton, 1994), and were the focus of extensive research aimed at describing morphological, genetic, reproductive and physiological variation among them (Knowlton et al., 1992; van Veghel and Bak, 1993, 1994; van Veghel, 1994; van Veghel and Kahmann, 1994; Weil and Knowlton, 1994; van Veghel and Bosscher, 1995; van Veghel, Cleary and Bak, 1996; Knowlton et al., 1997; Lopez and Knowlton, 1997; Szmant et al., 1997; Lopez et al., 1999; Medina, Weil and Szmant, 1999; Manica and Carter, 2000; Knowlton and Budd, 2001; Fukami et al., 2004; Levitan et al., 2004, 2011, Fukami and Knowlton, 2005). Although currently restricted to the Caribbean showing no geographic overlap with any other living Merulinidae genus, the subgenus Orbicella described by Dana, 1846: 205 within Astrea also included numerous Indo-Pacific species such as Cyphastrea microphthalma, Astrea curta and Oulastrea crispata (incertae sedis). The subsequent designation of Madrepora annularis Ellis and Solander, 1786: 169 as type species by Vaughan, 1918: 85 also did not constrain its geographic range, as Plesiastrea versipora, Orbicella gravieri (synonym of P. versipora; Veron et al., 1977: 150) and Astrea curta were retained. Orbicella was finally synonymized by Vaughan and Wells, 1943: 173 as Montastraea de Blainville. Molecular data have generally placed the Orbicella clade as sister to Cyphastrea with good support (Fukami et al., 2004; Huang et al., 2011; Huang, 2012; Arrigoni et al., 2012; but see Fukami et al., 2008). [details]

Definitions