Bebryce boninensis Aurivillius, 1931

Matsumoto, Asako K. & van Ofwegen, Leen P., 2016, The genus Bebryce (Cnidaria, Octocorallia, Plexauridae) at Japan, with descriptions of three new species, ZooKeys 587, pp. 1-20 : 3-4

Taxon classification Animalia Alcyonacea Plexauridae

Bebryce boninensis Aurivillius, 1931 Figures 1, 2b

Bebryce boninensis Aurivillius, 1931: 200, fig. 39, pl. 4 fig. 3 (Bonin Is., Japan); Matsumoto 2014: Table 1; Bayer and Ofwegen 2016: 308.

Bebryce boninensis NOT Bebryce boninensis ; Matsumoto et al. 2007: table 1 = Bebryce bocki .

Material examined.

Holotype UPSZTY2166 (UUZM69), ENE from Anojima I. (Anijima I. or Anejima I.), Ogasawara Is. (Bonin Is.), Japan, depth 150 m (100 fathoms in Aurivillius 1931), coll. Dr. Sixten Bock, 15 August 1914.

Diagnosis.

Bebryce with rosettes with warty, rounded, or bristle-like projections. Calycular margins without specialized sclerites. Coenenchymal sclerites are thick, warty disks.

Remarks.

It cannot be excluded that this species is synonymous with Bebryce bocki . Its sclerites are very similar and it only differs in lacking the asymmetrical rosettes at the calyx margin. These sclerites may perhaps fall off easily, which would explain why the species was never reported again. The distance between Chichijima Island (type locality of Bebryce bocki ) and Anijima Island (type locality of Bebryce boninensis ) is ca. 800 m within the Anijima Strait. The recorded depth of Bebryce boninensis (150 m) is within the depth range of Bebryce bocki (97-213 m). As collecting efforts at the Bonin Islands have been limited, the two species are still considered separate in the present study. Re-examination of the material studied by Matsumoto et al. (2007), proved to be Bebryce bocki .