Dendronephthya fam subsp. gen var. indet, . sp. 2

Fassbender, Nico, Stefanoudis, Paris V, Filander, Zoleka Nontlantla, Gendron, Gilberte, Mah, Christopher L, Mattio, Lydiane, Mortimer, Jeanne A, Moura, Carlos J, Samaai, Toufiek, Samimi-Namin, Kaveh, Wagner, Daniel, Walton, Rowana & Woodall, Lucy C, 2021, Reef benthos of Seychelles - A field guide, Biodiversity Data Journal 9, pp. 65970-65970 : 65970

"fam. Plexauridae" gen. indet. sp. 2

Materials

Type status: Other material. Taxon: scientificName: Plexauridae sp. 2; kingdom: Animalia; phylum: Cnidaria; class: Anthozoa; order: Alcyonacea; family: Plexauridae; scientificNameAuthorship: Gray, 1859; Location: waterBody: Indian Ocean; country: Seychelles; locality: Aldabra N 1, Aldabra W 1, Alphonse N 1, Astove W 1, D'Arros N 1, Desroches S 1, Poivre E 1 ; minimumDepthInMeters: 89 m; maximumDepthInMeters: 148.1 m; locationRemarks: First Descent : Seychelles Expedition ; Identification : identifiedBy: Nico Fassbender , Kaveh Samimi-Namin , Paris Stefanoudis ; dateIdentified: 2019, 2020; identificationRemarks: identified only from imagery; Event : samplingProtocol: Submersible OR Remotely Operated Vehicle OR SCUBA; Record Level: basisOfRecord: Human observation

Notes

Colonies fan-shaped, mostly uniplanar, with a thick main stem and several thinner branches. Overall, there is a strong tree-like resemblance with branches growing upwards. Anastomoses are never observed. Colony size typically <50 cm in height but can occasionally reach> 1 m. The colour is bright green to yellow. Young colonies grow upright into branched stalks and do not yet have a fan morphology. Belongs to either Paraplexaura or Paracis , but positive identification requires microscopic examination. Colonies can be mistaken for Acanthogorgia , but the latter forms bushy colonies growing omnidirectionally (Fig. 49).