Melithaea mutsu Minobe, 1929

Matsumoto, Asako K. & van Ofwegen, Leen P., 2015, Melithaeidae of Japan (Octocorallia, Alcyonacea) re-examined with descriptions of 11 new species, ZooKeys 522, pp. 1-127 : 24-26

Taxon classification Animalia Alcyonacea Melithaeidae

Melithaea mutsu Minobe, 1929 Figures 56c, 63, 64, 65

Melithaea mutsu Minobe 1929: 671, figs 1-2 (Mutsu Bay, Japan).

Material examined.

Neotype SMBL-Cni1017, Sai, Mutsu Bay, Aomori Prefecture, close to Tsugaru Straits between Sea of Japan and NW Pacific, 5 m, coll. M. Nishihira and Hoshiai, 13 August 1964.

Description.

Colony broken up, consisting of three fragments, bushy with few anastomoses. The largest fragment is 7.3 cm long without holdfast (Fig. 56c). At the base the stem is 7 mm wide, the end branches are 2 mm wide. The polyps are arranged randomly, the calyces hardly project beyond the coenenchyme and most polyps are retracted. Points with slightly bent spindles up to 0.30 mm long, distal end with more tubercles (Fig. 63a). Collaret with bent spindles up to 0.30 mm long, middle part with tubercles (Fig. 63b). Pharynx with straight spiny rods, up to 0.05 mm long (Fig. 63c). Coenenchyme with predominantly spindles, 0.10-0.25 mm long (Figs 63f, 64), with simple or complex tubercles. Capstans are also present, 0.05-0.10 mm long (Fig. 63e). The axis has smooth and sparsely tuberculate rods (Fig. 63d).

Color.

Colony red, sclerites orange.

Distribution.

Only known from the northern tip of the main island of Japan, Honshu Is. (Fig. 65).

Remarks.

The tentacle platelets were missing. The description and images provided by Minobe are inadequate to identify melithaeids and we were unable to find the depository of the material. As Minobe’s material was collected near Sai, as is our material, we concluded that we have the same species and designated a neotype here. The species is similar to Melithaea corymbosa , but lacks clubs in the calyces and disk spindles in the coenenchyme.