Astrogorgia arborea ( Thomson & Simpson, 1909 ) 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 : 44

publication ID

https://doi.org/ 10.11646/zootaxa.5236.1.1

publication LSID

lsid:zoobank.org:pub:796FF9F5-E71F-4C69-92CC-CF4D6752BD77

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7639431

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/0388B641-7B3D-FF87-FF56-FF6EFB93FCDF

treatment provided by

Plazi (2023-02-08 15:54:05, last updated 2024-11-28 18:43:59)

scientific name

Astrogorgia arborea ( Thomson & Simpson, 1909 )
status

comb. nov.

Astrogorgia arborea ( Thomson & Simpson, 1909) View in CoL new comb.

Muricella arborea Thomson & Simpson, 1909: 255–257 , pl. 3, fig. 1&5; pl. 8, fig. 18 (Arakan coast).

Opinion: This species does occur in the region but was originally misidentified.

Justification:

These Indian records seem to be either invalid or unconfirmable: Fernando 2011: 77, pl. 51, fig. 1–1c (Cuddalore) as Acanthomuricea arborea ( Thomson & Simpson, 1909) ; Fernando et al. 2017: 167, pl. 76, fig. 1–1c (Cuddalore) as Acanthomuricea arborea .

Literature analysis: Originally described from the Arakan coast (Bay of Bengal) as a member of the genus Muricella , this species has retractile polyps and is considered to be a species of Astrogorgia . It was reassigned to Acanthomuricea by Grasshoff (2000: 76), which is a synonym of Astrogorgia . Fernando (2011) adopted Grasshoff’s reassignment, which was repeated in Fernando et al. (2017). However, their description of the arrangement of the calyx sclerites as being “obliquely placed” differs from that in the original where they were said to be arranged in a “definite manner” in 8 en chevron rows becoming almost longitudinal at the calyx rim. The original colony had white sclerites, but that of Fernando (2011) and Fernando et al. (2017) has red sclerites.

Fernando, S. A. (2011) Monograph on Gorgonids (Sea fans) of India. Centre of Advanced Study in Marine Biology, Faculty of Marine Sciences, Parangipettai, 145 pp.

Fernando, S. A, Venkataraman, K. & Raghunathan, C. (2017) Gorgonians of Indian sea. Director, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, 330 pp. Available from: https: // www. nhbs. com / (accessed 21 March 2022)

Grasshoff, M. (2000) The gorgonians of the Sinai coast and the Strait of Gubal, Red Sea (Coelenterata, Octocorallia). Courier Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg, 224, 1 - 125.

Thomson, J. A. & Simpson, J. J. (1909) An account of the alcyonarians collected by the Royal Indian Marine Survey Ship Investigator in the Indian Ocean. The Alcyonarians of the Littoral Area. The Indian Museum, Calcutta, 319 + xviii pp.

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Cnidaria

Class

Anthozoa

Order

Alcyonacea

SubOrder

Holaxonia

Family

Plexauridae

Genus

Astrogorgia