Xeniakonohana sp. nov. (Cnidaria, Octocorallia, Alcyonacea), a new soft coral species in the family Xeniidae from Miyazaki, Japan

Tatsuki Koido; Yukimitsu Imahara; Hironobu Fukami

doi:10.3897/zookeys.1085.77924

Xeniakonohana sp. nov. (Cnidaria, Octocorallia, Alcyonacea), a new soft coral species in the family Xeniidae from Miyazaki, Japan

Zookeys. 2022 Feb 3:1085:29-49. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.1085.77924. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Tatsuki Koido^{1

2}, Yukimitsu Imahara^{2

3

4}, Hironobu Fukami⁵

Affiliations

¹ Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Agriculture and Engineering, University of Miyazaki, 1-1 Gakuen-kibanadai-nishi, Miyazaki, Miyazaki 889-2192, Japan University of Miyazaki Miyazaki Japan.
² Kuroshio Biological Research Foundation, 560 Nishidomari, Otsuki, Kochi 788-0333, Japan Kuroshio Biological Research Foundation Otsuki Japan.
³ Octocoral Research Laboratory, 300-11 Kire, Wakayama, 640-0351, Japan Octocoral Research Laboratory Kire Japan.
⁴ Geological Survey of Japan, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, 1-1-3 Higashi, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8567, Japan Geological Survey of Japan, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology Tsukuba Japan.
⁵ Department of Marine Biology and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Miyazaki, 1-1 Gakuen-kibanadai-nishi, Miyazaki, Miyazaki 889-2192, Japan Miyazaki University Miyazaki Japan.

Abstract

A new soft coral species, Xeniakonohana sp. nov. (Alcyonacea, Xeniidae), is described from Miyazaki in the warm-temperate region of Japan. This new species has conspicuous and unique spindle sclerites in addition to the simple ellipsoid platelet-shaped sclerites typically found in the genus Xenia. These unique spindles are a specific key morphological characteristic for this new species and for differentiating this species among congeneric species.

Keywords: Alcyonacea; Cnidaria; Miyazaki; Xenia; Xeniidae; new species.

Tatsuki Koido, Yukimitsu Imahara, Hironobu Fukami.