Unomia complanatis, Benayahu & Van Ofwegen & Ruiz Allais & Mcfadden, 2021

Benayahu, Yehuda, Van Ofwegen, Leen P., Ruiz Allais, J. P. & Mcfadden, Catherine S., 2021, Revisiting the type of Cespitularia stolonifera Gohar, 1938 leads to the description of a new genus and a species of the family Xeniidae (Octocorallia, Alcyonacea), Zootaxa 4964 (2), pp. 330-344 : 337-338

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.11646/zootaxa.4964.2.5
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:D3E4491B-E445-42BD-9B94-2B6786ACAA94
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4740962
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03917065-4165-FFC6-5A82-FF29F743F8A6
treatment provided by	Plazi
scientific name	Unomia complanatis
status	gen. nov.

Treatment

Unomia complanatis View in CoL gen. n. sp. n.

Figs. 6–11 View FIGURE 6 View FIGURE 7 View FIGURE 8 View FIGURE 9 View FIGURE 10 View FIGURE 11

Material. Holotype. Japan, ZMTAU CO 38120 , Kumamoto Prefecture, Ushibuka , 32.1552°N, 130.0444ºE, 8 m, 18 September 2018, coll. C.S. McFadden. GoogleMaps Paratypes: ZMTAU CO 38124 , ZMTAU CO 38125 , ZMTAU CO 38126 , details as above. Additional material. Japan: ZMTAU CO 35154 , Ryukyu Archipelago , Yonaguni Island, west Point, 16–22 m, 5 July 2010 ; Taiwan: ZMTAU CO 37813 (4 colonies), Green Island , Gong-Guan-Bi reef, 22°40’47.46” N, 121°29’24.42” E, 6.6–18 m, 2 October 2019, coll. Y. Benayahu GoogleMaps ; ZMTAU CO 37846 (4 colonies), Light House reef, Green Island, 22°40’31.38” N, 121° 27’42.90” E, 7.7–11.9 m, 3 October 2019, coll. Y. Benayahu. GoogleMaps

Description. The holotype from Japan (ZMTAU CO 38120) is an encrusting flattened colony, 12–14 mm high and 20 X 25 mm in diameter ( Fig. 6A View FIGURE 6 ). The stalk is not distinct as the polyps actually arise from the membranous base and leave almost no bare space down to the colony base. The polyp body is up to 4–5 mm long, and the tentacles are up to 2 mm long. The pinnules are fully contracted and seem to be arranged in 1–2 rows on each side also noted by tiny pits on the tentacles.

The sclerites are ellipsoid platelets 0.012 –0.017 X 0.018 –0.024 mm in diameter ( Fig. 7A View FIGURE 7 ). They are composed of dendritic calcite rods, uniform in diameter of about 0.001 –0.002 mm, and their tips are either perpendicular or more or less parallel to the surface of the sclerite ( Fig. 7B View FIGURE 7 ). The ethanol-preserved holotype is cream.

Variation. The preserved paratypes are smaller than the holotype. ZMTAU CO 38124 is an encrusting colony with almost no recognizable stalk ( Fig. 6B View FIGURE 6 ). ZMTAU CO 38125 and ZMTAU CO 38126 ( Fig. 6C, D View FIGURE 6 ), both have a distinct stalk bearing a polypary, the latter with a polyp emerging from its base. These characters are similarly confirmed by the underwater images ( Fig. 10A View FIGURE 10 ). Sclerite forms and size ranges are consistent throughout all paratypes ( Fig. 8A, B View FIGURE 8 : ZMTAU CO 38124 , not shown for ZMTAU Co 38125 and ZMTAU CO 38126 ) .

The Yonaguni Island, Ryukyu Archipelago material ( ZMTAU CO 35154 ) are small encrusting colonies, much resembling the holotype ( ZMTAU CO 38120 ) . The Green Island (Taiwan) material ( ZMTAU CO 37813 and ZMTAU CO 37846 View Materials ) are all encrusting colonies as demonstrated both by the preserved ( Fig. 9 View FIGURE 9 ) and living colonies ( Fig. 10B View FIGURE 10 ) . The polyps of these colonies are arranged in several distinct groups corresponding to polyparies, whose number depends on the colony size. Their stalk is narrow, being only a few mm high. The sclerites of ZMTAU CO 37813 ( Fig. 11 View FIGURE 11 ) resemble those of the holotype (not shown for ZMTAU CO 37846 ) .