Pseudochrysogorgia, Pante & France, 2010

Pante, Eric & France, Scott C., 2010, Pseudochrysogorgia bellona n. gen., n. sp.: a new genus and species of chrysogorgiid octocoral (Coelenterata, Anthozoa) from the Coral Sea, Zoosystema 32 (4), pp. 595-612 : 601

Genus Pseudochrysogorgia n. gen.

TYPE SPECIES. — Pseudochrysogorgia bellona n. gen., n. sp.

ETYMOLOGY. — Th e greek prefix “pseudo”, meaning “false” or “fake”, is appended to Chrysogorgia in allusion to the morphological resemblance between this new taxon and the established Chrysogorgia . Th is resemblance is reflected by the morphology-based parsimony analysis, in which Pseudochrysogorgia n. gen. appears most closely related to Chrysogorgia rather than Metallogorgia , its sister taxon based on genetics ( Fig. 8). Therefore, this combination was chosen over a combination involving Metallogorgia because misidentification of this new taxon for Chrysogorgia is more likely than misidentification for Metallogorgia . Gender is feminine.

DIAGNOSIS. — The colony is bottlebrush-shaped, and its main axis is monopodial, slightly zigzagging. Branches are subdividing dichotomously in multiple planes. Branch subdivision occurs at a relatively constant angle averaging 120°, resulting in hexagonal patterns. Over half of the polyps are leaning distad. Th e neck can be narrower than the head. On average, polyps are as wide as they are tall. Sclerites are slightly ornamented, in the form of plates, scales and rods. When the polyp is not leaning distad, sclerites are arranged obliquely on the polyp body. When polyps are leaning distad, sclerites are 1) mostly longitudinally arranged (parallel to the branch) on the polyp body, 2) placed obliquely in the area of the neck, and 3) longitudinally arranged on the head and along the back of the tentacles. The branch coenenchyme contains sclerites in the form of scales and plates that are mostly parallel to main branch axis.