FIGURE 11 in Shallow-water black corals (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Hexacorallia: Antipatharia) from SW Madagascar

FIGURE 11. Comparison of Antipathes virgata Esper, 1788 and related specimens. (a) Original illustration of An. virgata by Esper (Esper Fortsetzungen 2, p. 8, pl. 14, 1798) showing the lower portion of the colony. The colony is from the Indian Ocean (gift from India). He reports a colony measuring around 45 cm with no fusion of the branches. (b) A branch of the specimen An. cf. virgata INV.131349. from Madagascar. (c) A branch of the specimen An. cf. lentipinna INV.131337 from Madagascar showing the same uniserial branching pattern as Brook's specimen of An. virgata, but with thick ramifications compared to the latter. (d–f) Views of the entire colony, a branch and a skeletal section of Brook's specimen (Brook 1889) of An. virgata from the British Museum. The ramifications are uniserial and thin compared to the specimen from Madagascar. Photo of Brook's specimen of An. virgata courtesy of Paul Richens of the NHMUK.