Grasshoffia profundica Williams, 2017

Williams, Gary C., 2017, The Genus Grasshoffia with the Description of a New Deep-water Species from the Northern Philippines (Octocorallia: Pennatulacea: Virgulariidae), Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 64 (4), pp. 95-105 : 97-98

Grasshoffia profundica Williams , sp. nov.

Figures 3-7.

HOLOTYPE.— CASIZ 207514 .

PARATYPE.— CASIZ 207515 .

TYPE LOCALITY (Fig. 1).— Balayan Bay , southwestern Luzon, Philippines (13.77283°N, 120.8507°E to 13.764167°N, 120.85167°E); station number HEPD-010; 318–333 m depth; 30

May 2011; G.C. Williams on board the research ship of the Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, M/ V DA-BFAR, during the 2011 CAS Hearst Philippine Biodiversity Expedition; two partial specimens collected by beam trawl.

HABITAT AND DISTRIBUTION.— Collected from muddy sea bottom in a north to south linear transect in the eastern part of Balayan Bay (Fig. 1), which represents the only known occurrence of the species.

ETYMOLOGY.— The specific epithet is derived from the Latin profundus (deep or of the depths), and the suffix –icus (belonging to), referring to the deep-sea habitat of the holotype.

Figures

FIGURE 3. Grasshoffia profundica n. sp. External morphology. A. Holotype (CAS 207514). B. Paratype (CAS 207515); scale bar for A and B = 40 mm. C. Detail of holotype rachis. D. Detail of holotype rachis. E. Detail of paratype rachis; scale bar for C-E = 10 mm. F. Detail of rachis of paratype showing broadly ovate polyp leaves with narrow proximal region attached to the rachis; scale bar = 5.0 mm. G. Diagram of a single autozooid, pinnules not shown; scale bar = 0.5 mm.

FIGURE 4. Grasshoffia profundica n. sp. Scanning electron micrographs of axial morphology. A. Transverse section of axis from the distal region of the rachis showing arrangement of wedge-shaped sections of calcareous material radiating outward from the central core; scale bar = 0.3 mm. B. Enlarged detail of the central region from Fig. 2A showing concentration of organic matter in the central core and several elongated, tadpole-shaped channels surrounding the core; scale bar = 0.2 mm. C. Longitudinal external view of portion of axis from the distal region of the rachis showing uniformly smooth surface; scale bar = 0.5 mm. D. Enlarged detail of axial surface (from Fig. 2C) showing short, slit-shaped orifices; scale bar = 0.1 mm.

FIGURE 5. Grasshoffia profundica n. sp. Scanning electron micrographs of sclerites from polyps and polyp leaves. Scale bar = 0.03 mm.

FIGURE 6. Grasshoffia profundica n. sp. Scanning electron micrographs of sclerites from polyps and polyp leaves. Scale bar = 0.03 mm.

FIGURE 7. Grasshoffia profundica n. sp. Scanning electron micrographs of polyp sclerites from polyps and polyp leaves. Scale bars = 0.02 mm.