Adrian Pearton
Info
South Africa borders two oceans: the Atlantic Ocean to the west and the Indian Ocean to the south and southeast.
The two oceans officially meet at the southern tip of Africa, at Cape Agulhas.
The edges of the branches fo Leptogorgia bayeri are flattened and wavy, which appears to be the main distinguishing feature of this species.
The ends of the branches are also pointed.
Color according to the initial description: vivid yellow, coenenchymal sclerites yellow, plate-shaped sclerites of the polyps salmon pink or pale orange.
Adrain Pearson confirmed to us that the red color morph is also Leptogorgia bayeri.
We would like to express our special thanks to Adrain Pearson, Durban, who took additional photos of Leptogorgia bayeri at our request.
His photos were taken at No.1 Reef, Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, at a depth of 24 meters.
Etymology.
The species was named after Dr. Frederick M. Bayer (1921-2007), curator of coelenterates (National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C.).
Dr. Bayer was the first researcher to systematically use scanning electron microscope (SEM) images of sclerites (skeletal elements) for species identification.
Dr. Bayer described 186 new coral species.
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=qGVUvuIAAAAJ&hl=en
The two oceans officially meet at the southern tip of Africa, at Cape Agulhas.
The edges of the branches fo Leptogorgia bayeri are flattened and wavy, which appears to be the main distinguishing feature of this species.
The ends of the branches are also pointed.
Color according to the initial description: vivid yellow, coenenchymal sclerites yellow, plate-shaped sclerites of the polyps salmon pink or pale orange.
Adrain Pearson confirmed to us that the red color morph is also Leptogorgia bayeri.
We would like to express our special thanks to Adrain Pearson, Durban, who took additional photos of Leptogorgia bayeri at our request.
His photos were taken at No.1 Reef, Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, at a depth of 24 meters.
Etymology.
The species was named after Dr. Frederick M. Bayer (1921-2007), curator of coelenterates (National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C.).
Dr. Bayer was the first researcher to systematically use scanning electron microscope (SEM) images of sclerites (skeletal elements) for species identification.
Dr. Bayer described 186 new coral species.
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=qGVUvuIAAAAJ&hl=en
