Eleutherobia somaliensis Verseveldt & Bayer, 1988

Bryce, Monika, Poliseno, Angelo, Alderslade, Philip & Vargas, Sergio, 2015, Digitate and capitate soft corals (Cnidaria: Octocorallia: Alcyoniidae) from Western Australia with reports on new species and new Australian geographical records, Zootaxa 3963 (2), pp. 160-200 : 175-180

Eleutherobia somaliensis Verseveldt & Bayer, 1988 new record

( Fig. 7 F; 12; Tabs. 1, 2)

Eleutherobia somaliensis Verseveldt & Bayer, 1988: 39 –40, Figs. 18 g,h; 33b; 34.

Material examined. WAM Z31487, two whole specimens, grooved, digitate, 25 and 41 mm tall, Station PF06/S1- 200/R 2, 190 km NW of Dampier, Pluto Gas Field, NW Australia, 19.9308°– 19.9352° S, 115.2261°– 115.2288° E, epibenthic sled, depth 200 m, coll. B.F. Cohen, 8 December 2005; WAM Z12201, one whole specimen, branched with two side branchlets, 65 mm tall, Station 1031302, North West Cape, 21.4666° S, 114.1016° E, epibenthic sled, depth 200–250 m, coll. AIMS North West Cape survey, 13 March 2001.

Description. Two of the colonies are unbranched, and the third is branched. The colonies are stiff, grooved, with a wider base and taper distally towards the rounded apex of the cylindrical polyparium ( Fig. 7 F). The colonies are between 25–65 mm tall, 3 mm in diameter at the apex and between 6–11 mm in diameter across the holdfast. No distinct stalk is present. Polyps are monomorphic, numerous and mostly irregularly distributed over the colony. In some areas of the base the polyps are arranged in longitudinal rows, in other places they are absent. In the preserved specimens all polyp bodies are retracted.

The sclerites in the surface of the polyparium ( Fig. 12 A) are mostly 8-radiate derivatives, between 0.08–0.10 mm long, with a medial waist, the larger ones approaching clubs, together with some longer spindles up to 0.38 mm long. The sclerites of the interior of the polyparium are spindles and needles, 0.23–0.50 mm long, ( Fig. 12 B). The surface of the base is densely spiculated with small rods and crosses, 8-radiate derivatives, sub-spheroidal forms and plump spindles with sharply tapering ends. The sclerites are about 0.10-0.2 mm long ( Fig. 12 C). The sclerites in the interior of the base are warty spindles up to 0.20-0.30 mm long ( Fig. 12 D). They are similar to the sclerites in the interior of the polyparium, but are slightly shorter and wider. All of the polyparium and basal sclerites have very prickly warts.

The polyp armature consists of crown and points and is formed of slightly spiny spindles around 0.03 mm long ( Fig. 12 E). The tentacles contain flattened sclerites, the larger ones curved, up to 0.25 mm long ( Fig. 12 F).

Species Distribution Depth (m) Source Literature

Alcyonium Linnaeus, 1758

studeri ( Thomson, 1910) South Africa 42–121 Verseveldt & Bayer 1988; Williams 1992; Williams & Little 2001;

Williams 2003

variabile (Thomson, 1921) South Africa 13–468 Williams 1986; Williams 1992; Williams 2003

Eleutherobia Pütter, 1900

australiensis sp. nov. NWAustralia 200

dofleini (Kükenthal, 1906) Japan 69–250 Kükenthal, 1906; Thomson & Dean 1931; Utinomi 1954; Utinomi 1957; Williams 2003; Verseveldt & Bayer 1988; Imahara et al. 2014

imaharai sp. nov. NWAustralia 200–250

duriuscula ( Thomson & Dean, 1931) Indonesia 69–204 Thomson & Dean 1931; Verseveldt & Bayer 1988; Williams 2003

flava ( Nutting, 1912) Japan 174 Nutting 1912; Verseveldt & Bayer 1988; Williams 2003; Imahara et

al 2014

grandiflora (Kükenthal, 1906) Japan shallow Kükenthal 1906; Utinomi 1957; Verseveldt & Bayer 1988; Williams

2003

rigida (Pütter, 1900) Japan 24–150 Utinomi 1954; Utinomi 1957; Verseveldt & Bayer 1988; Williams

2003; Imahara et al. 2014

rubra (Brundin, 1896) Japan; USA; NW Australia 80–128 Thomson & Dean 1931; Utinomi 1957; Verseveldt & Bayer 1988;

Williams 2003

somaliensis Verseveldt & Bayer, 1988 Somalia; NWAustralia (NR) 70–200 Verseveldt & Bayer 1988; Williams 2003

splendens ( Thomson & Dean, 1931) Indonesia; Philippines; Australia 204–511 Thomson & Dean, 1931; Verseveldt & Bayer 1988; Williams 2003

(NR)

……continued on the next page TABLE 2. Morphological comparison of the Western Australian digitate and capitate species of Parasphaerasclera , Eleutherobia , Sphaerasclera and Paraminabea .

Plump spindles with sharply tapering ends. N.R.: new record; Sp. nov: new species.

Species Status in Colour in EtOH Growth form Introvert Collaret Tentacle Polyparium Polyparium Stalk Base

Australia sclerites sclerites sclerites surface (mm) interior (mm) surface (mm) interior (mm)

Parasphaerasclera

Colour. The preserved colonies are uniformly cream.

Habitat. The specimens were sampled from a depth range between 200–250 m along the continental slope utilising an epibenthic sled, but the exact habitat is unknown.

Remarks. Eleutherobia somaliensis has only been described from off the coast of Somalia, Africa ( Table 1), and this is the first record for Australia. Although Verseveldt & Bayer’s (1988) original description of the holotype did not include illustrations of the sclerites from the polyps or the interior of the base, we think the sclerites of our specimens bear a very close resemblance to those that were illustrated and to the descriptions of those that were not. The notable differences are the more prickly nature of the sclerite warting and the lack of well defined 8- radiates as shown in Verseveldt & Bayer’s Fig 34a–d.

Figures

FIGURE 12. Eleutherobia somaliensis WAM Z 31487, sclerites: A, surface of polyparium; B, surface of the base; C, interior of the polyparium; D, interior of the base; E, polyps; F, tentacles.

FIGURE 18. Paraminabea cf. aldersladei, WAM Z 59783, sclerites: A, surface of the base; B, interior of the base.

FIGURE 7. A – C, Eleutherobia australiensis sp. nov., holotype, WAM Z 31488; D, Eleutherobia imaharai sp. nov., holotype, WAM Z 13252; E, (photo courtesy Y. Imahara) Eleutherobia dofleini (Kükenthal, 1906) “ Type ”, ZMB 6524; F, Eleutherobia somaliensis, WAM Z 31487; G, Eleutherobia splendens, WAM Z 23988 - 1; H. Sphaerasclera flammicerebra, WAM Z 31480.