Title

Pseudoplexaura crucis (Bayer, 1961)

Photographer

Charles Messing, Nova Southeastern University

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Family

Plexauridae

Common Name(s)

False cross plexaura

Colony Form

Profusely and dichotomously branched in roughly one plane; to 34 cm tall.

Axis

Cylindrical

Branches

Thin, cylindrical, arising chiefly near colony base, ~4-6 mm in diameter.

Apertures

Circular to oval, ~1 mm across, closely crowded; no projecting calices, but lower rims slightly raised toward branch tips.

Mucus

Slimy

Color

Living colonies greenish yellow to yellow. Dries greenish gray to brownish gray.

Sclerites

Polyp armature: small rods. Axial layer: purple 6- to 8-rayed capstans, simple and branched spindles, and irregular sclerites. Surface layer: abundant small (0.1-0.15 mm) 3-flanged leaf-clubs; narrow, straight or curved spindles with close complex tubercles, slightly >1 mm long, but smaller, often branched and purple in deeper layers.

Habitat

Shallow reefs to 20 m depth.

Distribution

South Florida, Bermuda, Caribbean Sea.

Notes

Flamingo tongue gastropods, Cyphoma spp., are common predators of Pseudoplexaura spp. (Harvell and Suchanek, 1987).

References

Bayer (1961), Kinzie (1973), Cairns (1977), Harvel & Suchanek (1987), Humann & DeLoach (2002), Sánchez & Wirshing (2005).

Pseudoplexaura porosa

Date Taken

4-11-2016