Sinularia levi, van Ofwegen, Leen P., McFadden, Catherine S. & Benayahu, Yehuda, 2016

van Ofwegen, Leen P., McFadden, Catherine S. & Benayahu, Yehuda, 2016, Sinulariapolydactyla (Ehrenberg, 1834) (Cnidaria, Octocorallia) re-examined, with the description of a new species, ZooKeys 581, pp. 71-126 : 76-78

Taxon classification Animalia Alcyonacea Alcyoniidae

Sinularia levi sp. n. Figures 2 D–E, 15, 16, 17, 18, 44

Sinularia polydactyla (partly); Verseveldt 1971: 4 (Madagascar).

Sinularia polydactyla ; McFadden et al. 2009: 321 (Eilat, northern Red Sea); 2011: 25.

Type material examined.

holotype: ZMTAU Co 34106, Eilat Nature Reserve, Gulf of Aqaba, northern Red Sea (Israel), 29°30.6'N, 34°55.35'E, depth 2.4-5.5 m, coll. Y. Benayahu, 24 July 2007; paratype: ZMTAU Co 34138, same data as holotype.

Other material examined.

RMNH Coel. 6648, W of harbour, Hellville, Nosy Bé, Madagascar, 12 m, 26 July 1967, coll. A.G. Humes, 1205, det. J. Verseveldt, one specimen and six microscope slides; RMNH Coel. 6649, Ambariobe, near Nosy Bé, Madagascar, 2 m, 22 August 1967, coll. A.G. Humes, 1307, det. J. Verseveldt, one specimen and four microscope slides; RMNH Coel. 6650, Banc de Cinq Mètres, near Nosy Bé, Madagascar, 20 m, 6 August 1967, coll. A.G. Humes, det. J. Verseveldt, one specimen and four microscope slides; RMNH Coel. 6651, Banc de Cinq Mètres, near Nosy Bé, Madagascar, 20 m, 6 August 1967, coll. A.G. Humes, det. J. Verseveldt, one specimen and three microscope slides; ZMTAU 34108, Eilat, Gulf of Aqaba, northern Red Sea, Israel, 29°30.6'N, 34°55.35'E, 2.4-5.5 m, 24 July 2007, coll. Y Benayahu; ZMTAU 36585, Eilat, Gulf of Aqaba, northern Red Sea, Israel,1-2 m, June 2014, coll. E. Shoham and Y. Benayahu; ZMTAU 36607, Eilat, Gulf of Aqaba, northern Red Sea, Israel, 1-2 m, June 2014, coll. E. Shoham and Y. Benayahu.

Description.

The holotype is 5.5 cm high and 3 cm wide (Figure 2D) with a stalk 3 cm long. The primary lobes give off short knob-like lobules up to 5 mm long. The polyp openings are visible as small pits.

Sclerites. Polyps without collaret, but with points featuring poorly developed clubs, up to 0.15 mm long (Figure 15A). Tentacles with rods that sometimes are ramified, up to 0.08 mm long (Figure 15B). The surface layer of the lobules has clubs with a central wart, the smallest are 0.08 mm long, most are around 0.10 mm, some reach a length of 0.25 mm (Figure 15C). Furthermore, the surface layer of the lobules has spindles, up to 0.35 mm long, with simple tubercles (Figure 16A). The sclerites of the surface layer of the base of the colony resemble those of the surface layer of the lobules, but clubs and spindles are shorter, up to 0.20 mm long, and the spindles and handles of the clubs are wider (Figure 17). A few sclerites intermediate between those of surface and interior are also present (Figure 18C). The interior of the colony has unbranched spindles. In the lobules the spindles are up to 2.5 mm long (Figure 16B), almost all having complex tubercles (Figure 16C). In the base of the colony they are up to 2 mm long (Figure 18A), many with complex tubercles (Figure 18B).

Colour. The alcohol-preserved specimen is brown.

Etymology.

Named after the late Prof. Lev Fishelson, Tel Aviv University, pioneering and outstanding marine biologist, who investigated Red Sea coral reefs.

Intraspecific variation.

The paratype ZMTAU Co 34138 (Figure 2E) has similar sclerites, colony shape and colour.

Remarks.

Preserved specimens have a brown colony colour. In the RMNH, only four specimens from Madagascar identified by Verseveldt as Sinularia polydactyla can be referred to this species. Live colonies are shown in Figure 44.