Viminella alba ( Thomson & Henderson, 1906 )

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 : 105

Viminella alba ( Thomson & Henderson, 1906)

Scirpearella alba Thomson & Henderson, 1906: 82 , pl. 9, fig. 15. (Bay of Bengal).

Scirpearia alba Simpson 1910: 88 , figs. 64–65 (Bay of Bengal).

Opinion: This species does occur in the region.

Justification:

These Indian records appear to represent an identical species: Fernando, 2011: 112–113, pl. 71, figs, 1–1c (Cuddalore, SE coast); Fernando et al. 2017, 246, pl. 114, figs. 1–1c (Cuddalore, SE coast).

Literature analysis: Thomson & Henderson (1906) established this species as Scirpirella alba for a specimen from the Bay of Bengal, describing the sclerites as including spindles up to 0.19 mm long, which do not match the few figured sclerites. Simpson (1910) later transferred the species to the genus Scirpearia with a few more sclerite figures, two drawings of colony portions, and updating the sclerite dimensions so there were none longer than 0.15 mm. The taxon is accepted as a species of Viminella and the material described as Viminella dissimilis n. sp. by Fernando (2011) and Fernando et al. (2017) seems to be the same as Viminella alba .