Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-qsmjn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-15T09:45:11.877Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A new species of alcyonacean octocoral from the Peruvian zoogeographic region

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 January 2014

Odalisca Breedy  and
Hector M. Guzman
Odalisca Breedy*
Affiliation:
Centro de Investigación en Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad de Costa Rica, Centro de Investigación en Estructuras Microscópicas, PO Box 11501-2060, Universidad de Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, PO Box 0843-03092, Panama, Republic of Panama
Hector M. Guzman
Affiliation:
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, PO Box 0843-03092, Panama, Republic of Panama
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: O. Breedy, Centro de Investigación en Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad de Costa Rica, Centro de Investigación en Estructuras Microscópicas, P.O. Box 11501-2060, Universidad de Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica email: odaliscab@gmail.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The first record of the plexaurid genus Psammogorgia from the shallow waters of Peru is reported here. A new species (Psammogorgia hookeri sp. nov.) is described from Isla San Gallán, Paracas National Reserve. The new species was morphologically analysed using light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. It is distinguished from the others in the genus by its small size; prominent calyces with wide lips around polyp apertures and without a special type of sclerites, but with a concentration of irregular, thorny spindles and wart-clubs around the calyx rim; coenenchymal sclerites that do not reach more than 0.2 mm long; the occurrence of conspicuous star-like radiates; and the colour of the colony and coenenchymal sclerites, which is coral red. The results increase species richness within a genus that has not been studied for more than a century, and contribute to the establishment of characters for further morphological studies. Additionally, the new species adds value to existing protected areas and to the octocoral biodiversity records for the Peruvian region and the eastern Pacific.

Keywords

biodiversityeastern Pacificmarine protected areanew speciesOctocoralliaoctocoralsPeruvian zoogeographic regionplexauridsPsammogorgia
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 94 , Issue 3 , May 2014 , pp. 493 - 498
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Bakun, A. and Weeks, S.J. (2008) The marine ecosystem off Peru: What are the secrets of its fishery productivity and what might its future hold? Progress in Oceanography 79, 290–299.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bayer, F.M. (1956) Octocorallia. In Moore, R.C. (ed.) Treatise on invertebrate paleontology. Part F. Coelenterata. Lawrence, KS: Geological Society of America and University of Kansas Press, pp. 163–231.Google Scholar
Bayer, F.M. (1981) Key to the genera of Octocorallia exclusive of Pennatulacea (Coelenterata: Anthozoa), with diagnosis of new taxa. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 94, 902–947.Google Scholar
Bayer, F.M., Grasshoff, M. and Verseveldt, J. (1983) Illustrated trilingual glossary of morphological terms applied to Octocorallia. 1st edition. Leiden: E.J. Brill.Google Scholar
Breedy, O. and Guzman, H.M. (2002) A Revision of the genus Pacifigorgia (Coelenterata: Octocorallia: Gorgoniidae). Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 115, 787–844.Google Scholar
Breedy, O. and Guzman, H.M. (2007) A revision of the genus Leptogorgia Milne Edwards & Haime, 1857 (Coelenterata: Octocorallia: Gorgoniidae) in the eastern Pacific. Zootaxa 1419, 1–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Breedy, O., Guzman, H.M. and Vargas, S. (2009) A revision of the genus Eugorgia Verrill, 1868 (Coelenterata: Octocorallia: Gorgoniidae. Zootaxa 2151, 1–46.Google Scholar
Chavez, F.P, Bertrand, A., Guevara-Carrasco, E., Soler, P. and Csirke, J. (2008) The northern Humboldt Current System: brief history, present status and a view towards the future. Progress in Oceanography 79, 95–105.Google Scholar
Cortés, J. (2003) Coral reefs of the Americas: An introduction to Latin American Coral Reefs. In Cortés, J. (ed.) Latin American coral reefs. Amsterdam: Elsevier Science, pp.1–7.Google Scholar
Gray, J.E. (1859) On the arrangement of zoophytes with pinnated tentacles. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 4, 439–444.Google Scholar
Harden, D.G. (1979) Intuitive and numerical classification of east Pacific Gorgonacea (Octocorallia). PhD thesis. Illinois State University, USA (unpublished).Google Scholar
Kükenthal, W. (1919) Gorgonaria. Wissensschaftliche Ergebnisse der Deutschen Tiefsee-Expedition auf dem Dampfer ‘Valdivia’, 1898–1899 13, 1–946.Google Scholar
Kükenthal, W. (1924) Gorgonaria. Das Tierreich, 47. Berlin and Leipzig: Walter de Gruyter and Co.Google Scholar
Nixon, S. and Thomas, A. (2001) On the size of the Peru upwelling ecosystem. Deep-Sea Research 48, 2521–2528.Google Scholar
Nutting, C.C. (1909) Alcyonaria of the Californian coast. Proceedings of the United States National Museum 35, 681–727.Google Scholar
Nutting, C.C. (1910) The Gorgonacea of the Siboga Expedition III. The Muriceidae. Siboga-Expedition Monograph 13b, 1–108.Google Scholar
Stiasny, G. (1951) Alcyonides et Gorgonides des collections du Muséum National d'Histoire naturelle. Mémoires du Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle (Série A, Zoologie) 3, 1–80.Google Scholar
Studer, T. (1887) Versuch eines Systemes der Alcyonaria. Archiv für Naturgeschichte 53, 1–74.Google Scholar
Valenciennes, A. (1846) Zoophytes. In Dupetit-Thouars, Abel (ed.) Voyage autour du monde sur la frégate la Vénus, pendant les années 1836–1839. Paris: Gide, pp. 1–15.Google Scholar
Verrill, A.E. (1866) On the polyps and corals from Panamá with descriptions of new species. Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History 10, 323–357.Google Scholar
Verrill, A.E. (1868a) Notes on Radiata in the Museum of Yale College, Number 6: review of the corals and polyps of the West Coast of America. Transactions of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences (2nd edition) 1, 377–478.Google Scholar
Verrill, A.E. (1868b) Critical remarks on the halcyonoid polyps in the Museum of Yale College, with descriptions of new genera. The American Journal of Science and Arts 45, 411–415.Google Scholar