Benayahu, Y.; McFadden, C.S.; Shoham, E.; van Ofwegen, L.P. (2017). Search for mesophotic octocorals (Cnidaria, Anthozoa) and their phylogeny. II. A new zooxanthellate species from Eilat, northern Red Sea. ZooKeys. 676: 1-12.

281930

10.3897/zookeys.676.12751 [view]

Benayahu, Y.; McFadden, C.S.; Shoham, E.; van Ofwegen, L.P.

2017

676: 1-12

Publication

An octocoral survey conducted in the mesophotic coral ecosystem (MCE) of Eilat (Gulf of Aqaba, northern Red Sea) yielded a new species of the speciose reef-dwelling genus Sinularia. It features encrusting colony morphology with a thin, funnel-shaped polypary. Sinularia mesophotica sp. n. (family Alcyoniidae) is described and compared to the other congeners with similar morphology. Both the morphological and molecular examination justifed the establishment of the new species, also assigning it to a new genetic clade within Sinularia. Te results highlight its unique phylogenetic position within the genus, and this is the frst described species of a mesophotic zooxanthellate octocoral.

Red Sea

Molecular systematics, Molecular biology
Systematics, Taxonomy

Octocorallia

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