Echinogorgia gen. inc.

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

Echinogorgia gen. inc.

Materials

Type status: Other material. Taxon: scientificName: Echinogorgia; kingdom: Animalia; phylum: Cnidaria; class: Anthozoa; order: Alcyonacea; family: Plexauridae; genus: Echinogorgia; scientificNameAuthorship: Kölliker, 1865; Location: waterBody: Indian Ocean; country: Seychelles; locality: Aldabra N 1, Aldabra W 1, Alphonse N 1, D; Arros N 1 ; minimumDepthInMeters: 30 m; maximumDepthInMeters: 120 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 up to 50 cm in height, with thin branches and uniplanar growth form, with side branches much shorter than main branches. Some degree of anastomoses should always be present. Polyp calices are conspicuous and give branches a bumpy appearance. Colonies are red-brown to grey, with one white individual recorded. The similar-looking Muricella may appear superficially similar in terms of colony shape, yet perpendicular branching should be visible compared to Echinogorgia (Fig. 60).