Euplexaura arbuscula Broch, 1935

Matsumoto, Asako K. & van Ofwegen, Leen P., 2016, Species of Elasmogorgia and Euplexaura (Cnidaria, Octocorallia) from Japan with a discussion about the genus Filigella, ZooKeys 589, pp. 1-21 : 5-7

Taxon classification Animalia Alcyonacea Plexauridae

Euplexaura arbuscula Broch, 1935 Figures 1, 2b, 5

Euplexaura arbuscula Broch, 1935: 20, fig. 12.

Material.

ZIN 11667(ZIN110824-018-040), Skaly Lovushki I., off Chishima Is. (= Kuril Is.), 154°44'5E, 48°15'5N, depth 140 m, Bottom: gravel with stones, Ship Odissey, Grab “Ocean” 50 cm2 (bottom sampler), coll. Boris Sirenko and Mikhail Kolesnikov, 3 August 1984.

Diagnosis.

Branches thread-like. Calyces dome-shaped, arranged all around the branches (Figure 2b). Polyps without sclerites. The surface layer of the coenenchyme has spindles and blunt ellipsoids (Figure 5a), up to 0.15 mm long, with complex tubercles. The interior has small spindles, capstans, and a few crosses, up to 0.15 mm long (Figures 5b-d), all with simple tubercles.

Remarks.

The material examined was fragmentary (Figure 2b) and therefore it resembles a species of Elasmogorgia .

Euplexaura abietina Kukenthal, 1909 resembles Euplexaura arbuscula regarding its sclerites, but it differs in having polyp spindles.

Since its original description, the species was not found again and its type material could not be retraced, hence some doubts remain about the identification of this species. Broch (1935) described the species only from one specimen. It is not present in the Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, and ZIN.

Distribution.

Kamchatka, Sea of Okhotsk, off Chishima Is. (= Kuril Is.).