Melithaea andamanensis ( van Ofwegen, 1987 )

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 : 26-27

Melithaea andamanensis ( van Ofwegen, 1987)

Acabaria andamanensis van Ofwegen, 1987: 27–31 , fig. 17–19 (Andaman Sea).

Opinion: This species does occur in the region.

Justification:

These Indian records seem to be either invalid or unconfirmable: Fernando 2011: 23–24, pl. 5, fig. 2–2d (SW coast); Fernando et al. 2017: 25, pl. 7, fig. 1–1d (SW coast).

Literature analysis: This species was originally described as Acabaria andamanensis with “? Melitodes variabilis Thomson & Simpson, 1909 ” cited as a possible synonym. The identical accounts by Fernando (2011) and Fernando et al. (2017) assign a specimen to this species, illustrating it with exceedingly small and rather fuzzy images of clusters of sclerites making a comparison with those provided by Ofwegen extremely difficult, if not impossible. However, one can see that in the second of the two sclerite images there are two sclerite forms (a large tuberculate spindle and a very long collaret sclerite with a thick mid region and horn-like ends) that are not present in the description of the holotype. Kumar et al. (2019) just listed the species.