“Tubastrea” caboverdiana. Credit: Ocaña et al 2015
Northern Africa is not a part of the world known for its coral reefs, but three newly described species are helping add to the region’s biodiversity. The new corals are part of an identification guide published late last year covering the corals and anemones of the Cape Verde Islands and neighboring reefs of Morocco. Loaded with in situ images of a great many unusual and rare corals, this is a paper worth taking a look through.
Africana wirtzi. Credit: Ocaña et al 2015
The three newly described scleractinians are all azooxanthellate (=non-photosynthetic). Perhaps the most interesting of the lot is Africana wirtzi, whose colonies are formed of a small number of pinkish polyps. Only a single specimen has been discovered thus far, but it turned out to be distinctive enough to necessitate the creation of a new genus for it due to the peculiar mix of morphological traits.
A. wirtzi. Credit: Ocaña et al 2015
Of note is the Pourtalès plan-like arrangement of the septa (a trait seen only in the sun corals of the Family Dendrophyllidae), the solid walls of the skeleton (which are porous in dendrophyllids), and the absence of lobelike structures called pali (which rules out other similar genera). Unfortunately, there was no genetic study done, so the true affinities of this species is uncertain, but, for now, the authors have chosen to place this curious coral into the diverse (and polyphyletic) Family Caryophillidae.
Thalamophyllia wirtzi. Credit: Ocaña et al 2015
Thalamophyllia wirtzi is another new caryophyllid, named (as in the previous species) after Dr Peter Wirtz, a prolific researcher on these poorly known African reefs. This species grows variably as either small groups of loosely connected polyps or more hemispherical masses with embedded corallites. It’s color in life also varies from a ghostly white to pink, while the underlying skeleton shows a series of attractive ridges (=costae) externally.
“Tubastrea” caboverdiana. Note the unusual branchlike structure of this colony. Credit: Ocaña et al 2015
Lastly, there is a new sun coral (yay!) in the form of “Tubastrea” caboverdiana, named after the Cape Verde Islands where it was discovered. If you’re wondering why I’ve included the scientific name in quotations, it’s because the authors have misspelled the genus in their publication—the correct spelling being Tubastraea, with that extra ‘a’ being an important difference.… More:
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