Paragoniastreavariabilis Kishi, Nomura & Fukami, sp. nov. (Cnidaria, Anthozoa, Scleractinia), a new coral species previously considered as a variant of Paragoniastreadeformis, from Japan and northern Taiwan

Daigo Kishi; Keiichi Nomura; Yoko Nozawa; Seiji Arakaki; Hironobu Fukami

doi:10.3897/zookeys.1205.121507

Paragoniastreavariabilis Kishi, Nomura & Fukami, sp. nov. (Cnidaria, Anthozoa, Scleractinia), a new coral species previously considered as a variant of Paragoniastreadeformis, from Japan and northern Taiwan

Zookeys. 2024 Jun 24:1205:205-222. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.1205.121507. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Daigo Kishi¹, Keiichi Nomura², Yoko Nozawa^{3

4

5}, Seiji Arakaki⁶, Hironobu Fukami⁷

Affiliations

¹ Graduate School of Agriculture, University of Miyazaki, Miyazaki 889-2155, Japan University of Miyazaki Miyazaki Japan.
² Sabiura Marine Park Research Station, Kushimoto, Wakayama 649-3514, Japan Sabiura Marine Park Research Station Wakayama Japan.
³ Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taipei 115, Taiwan Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica Taipei Taiwan.
⁴ Tropical Biosphere Research Center, University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa 905-0227, Japan University of the Ryukyus Okinawa Japan.
⁵ Department of Marine Science, Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Science, Universitas Diponegoro, Semarang, Indonesia Universitas Diponegoro Semarang Indonesia.
⁶ Amakusa Marine Biological Laboratory, Kyushu University, Kumamoto 863-2507, Japan Kyushu University Kumamoto Japan.
⁷ Department of Marine Biology and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Miyazaki University, Miyazaki 889-2155, Japan Miyazaki University Miyazaki Japan.

Abstract

A new zooxanthellate scleractinian coral, Paragoniastreavariabilis Kishi, Nomura & Fukami, sp. nov. (Scleractinia, Merulinidae), is described from non-coral reef regions of Japan and northern Taiwan. This new species was previously recognized as a morphological variant of Paragoniastreadeformis (Veron, 1990) and can be morphologically distinguished from that species by lacking groove-and-tube structures on corallite wall joints, and by having larger calices, numerous septa, and up to three corallites in one valley. The new species also formed an independent clade from its congeners, P.australensis (Milne Edwards & Haime, 1857), P.deformis and P.russelli (Wells, 1954), in the molecular phylogeny based on the mitochondrial intergenic region and nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacers.

Keywords: Merulinidae; molecular phylogeny; taxonomy; temperate region; zooxanthellate scleractinian corals.

Daigo Kishi, Keiichi Nomura, Yoko Nozawa, Seiji Arakaki, Hironobu Fukami.