Menella indiensis ( Ridley, 1888 ) Ramvilas & Alderslade & Ranjeet, 2023

Ramvilas, Ghosh, Alderslade, Philip & Ranjeet, Kutty, 2023, The taxonomy of Indian gorgonians: an assessment of the descriptive records of gorgonians (Anthozoa: Octocorallia: Alcyonacea) recorded as occurring in the territorial waters of India, along with neighbouring regions and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and the highlighting of perceived unethical practice, Zootaxa 5236 (1), pp. 1-124 : 63

Menella indiensis ( Ridley, 1888) nom. nov.

Plexaura indica Ridley, 1888: 233–234 pl. 18; fig. 1–5 (King Island Bay).

Plexauroides indica Kükenthal 1919: 245 ; 1924: 126–127.

Not Menella indica Gray, 1870: 407 .

Opinion: There is currently no evidence that this species occurs in the region, but it would not be surprising if it inhabited the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Justification:

These Indian records seem to be either invalid or unconfirmable: Thomson & Simpson 1909: 261–262 (Andamans).

Literature analysis: This taxon was established by Ridley in the Caribbean genus Plexaura for a specimen collected in the Mergui Archipelago. It was reassigned to Plexauroides by Studer (1895) but Thomson & Simpson (1909) retained the original name when reporting on material from the Andamans. Later, Kükenthal (1919, 1924) followed Studer’s suggestion, but the two leafclubs figured by Ridley (1888: pl. 18, fig. 3) clearly place it in the genus Menella . The combination Menella indica is, however, preceded by Menella indica Gray, 1870 (the type species on the genus), which was established for a specimen obtained from off “ Bombay ”. Because Gray’s specimen was from the Arabian Sea, was unbranched and had colourless sclerites, and Ridley’s was from the Andaman Sea, was branched and had pink, yellow and brown sclerites, we think it very unlikely they represent the same species. We therefore propose Menella indiensis as the replacement name for Ridley’s Menella indica .

Regardless of the history given above, Ridley’s species will essentially remain unrecognisable without a detailed redescription of his specimen. It is, therefore, difficult to compare his material with that of Thomson & Simpson (1909). The colony described by the latter two authors was multicoloured and the leafclubs were described as having a globular head that was generally smooth, while having radial ridges was not uncommon, and also spindles up to 0.4 mm long. In Ridley’s specimen the leafclubs were described as having a very thick blade that was either smooth or with one or two long ridges or elongate tubercles on the surface (as per his figure mentioned above). Perhaps a resemblance to the sclerite differences between M. kouare Grasshoff, 1999 (see his figures 94–95) and M. woodin Grasshoff, 1999 (see his figure 91). Unfortunately, Thomson and Simpson’s description lacked any illustrations. Kumar et al. (2017: PY-B) just listed the species with “ Thomson, 1905 ” as the author.