Stolonifera from shallow waters in the north-western Pacific: a description of a new genus and two new species within the Arulidae (Anthozoa, Octocorallia)

Yee Wah Lau; Frank Robert Stokvis; Leendert Pieter van Ofwegen; James Davis Reimer

doi:10.3897/zookeys.790.28875

Stolonifera from shallow waters in the north-western Pacific: a description of a new genus and two new species within the Arulidae (Anthozoa, Octocorallia)

Zookeys. 2018 Oct 15:(790):1-19. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.790.28875. eCollection 2018.

Authors

Yee Wah Lau¹, Frank Robert Stokvis², Leendert Pieter van Ofwegen², James Davis Reimer^{1

3}

Affiliations

¹ Molecular Invertebrate Systematics and Ecology Laboratory, Graduate School of Engineering and Science, University of the Ryukyus, 1 Senbaru, Nishihara, Okinawa 903-0123, Japan.
² Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Darwinweg 2, 2333 CR Leiden, The Netherlands.
³ Tropical Biosphere Research Center, University of the Ryukyus, 1 Senbaru, Nishihara, Okinawa 903-0123, Japan.

Abstract

A new genus and two new species of stoloniferous octocorals (Alcyonacea) within the family Arulidae are described based on specimens collected from Okinawa (Japan), Palau and Dongsha Atoll (Taiwan). Hana gen. n. is erected within Arulidae. Hanahanagasa sp. n. is characterised by large spindle-like table-radiates and Hanahanataba sp. n. is characterised by having ornamented rods. The distinction of these new taxa is also supported by molecular phylogenetic analyses. The support values resulting from maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference analyses for the genus Hana and new species H.hanagasa and H.hanataba are 82/1.0, 97/1.0 and 61/0.98, respectively. Hanahanagasa sp. n. and Hanahanataba sp. n. are the first arulid records for Okinawa, Palau, and Dongsha Atoll, and represent species of the second genus within the family Arulidae.

Keywords: Arulidae; Stolonifera; 28S rDNA; COI; molecular phylogeny; mtMutS; north-western Pacific; octocoral; taxonomy.