Redescription of the Mediterranean endemic sea-pen Crassophyllum thessalonicae (Octocorallia: Pteroeididae)

Abstract

Five colonies of the rare pennatulacean Crassophyllum thessalonicae were recently collected from Thermaikos Gulf (north-east Mediterranean), which allowed a study of their biometry; accordingly, new features are added to the original description of the species. Based on these data the morphological characters that distinguish C. thessalonicae from its congeners are reviewed. © 2011 Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom.