Onkoisis magnifica ( Dueñas, Alderslade & Sánchez, 2014 ) Lapointe & Watling, 2022

Lapointe, Abby & Watling, Les, 2022, Towards a revision of the bamboo corals (Octocorallia): Part 5, new genera and species of Keratoisididae from the Tasmanian deep sea, Zootaxa 5168 (2), pp. 137-157 : 148

Onkoisis magnifica ( Dueñas, Alderslade & Sánchez, 2014) n. comb.

Keratoisis magnifica Dueñas, Alderslade & Sánchez, 2014

Figure 11A–C

Material Examined. TMAG K3835 , Mongrel/Huon, Tasmanian Seamounts, collected on 26 December 2008, - 44.251, 147.115, 995 m. TMAG K3830 , Tasmanian Seamounts, collected on 25 December 2008, -44.254, 147.115 . TMAG K3831 , The Finger, Tasmanian Seamounts, collected on 27 December 2008, -44.389, 147.273, 1701 m . TMAG K3846 , Mongrel/Huon, Tasmanian Seamounts, collected on 24 December 2008, -44.251, 147.115 .

Diagnosis. Colony composed of several short and curved side branches with short internodes, densely arranged polyps that are conical to cylindrical, and a thick, tough, possibly collagenous layer covering the coenenchyme ( Dueñas, Alderslade, and Sanchez, 2014).

Remarks. The specimens collected from Tasmania displayed the morphological characters previously described for the species ( Fig.11A–C ). The rods in the polyps in the Tasmanian material are larger on one side of the polyp body than the other, and nodes are thick on one side of the axis and thin on the other. The colony branches at the internodes with occasional proximal nodes on the branches. Polyps on the younger branches are densely packed and embedded in the coenenchyme, while polyps at the older base of the colony are spaced out, separated by a thin coenenchyme. The polyps and coenenchyme are covered with a collagenous tunic in which are embedded numerous small calcareous nodules ( Fig. 11B, C ).

Figures

FIGURE 11. Onkoisis magnifica, specimen K3830, A, view of preserved polyps, B, piece of external tunic with embedded sclerites, C, light microscope image of tunic and calcareous nodules. Onkoisis solitaria, D, E, individual polyps, with surface and transmitted illumination showing scale sclerites on lower portion of polyp body.