Xenia kuekenthali Roxas, 1933

Halász, Anna, Mcfadden, Catherine S., Toonen, Robert & Benayahu, Yehuda, 2019, Re-description of type material of Xenia Lamarck, 1816 (Octocorallia: Xeniidae), Zootaxa 4652 (2), pp. 201-239 : 215-216

Xenia kuekenthali Roxas, 1933

Xenia kuekenthali Roxas, 1933: 79–80 , plate 1, Fig. 1 ; Xenia kuekenthali ; Utinomi 1950: 84, Fig. 2 d–g, 3a; Verseveldt & Cohen 1971: 61, table 1; Benayahu 1990: 114, table 1, listed only; Reinicke 1997: 31–32, plate 11.

Material. Holotype and two small fragments: ZMB 6917 , Philippines, Mindoro , Puerto Galera , Sabang , 1912– 1914, coll. members of the Zoology Department, University of the Philippines.

Description. The holotype is 45–50 mm high; its stalk is 13–15 mm long and splits at the base into five branches, four of which split again into two, 13–15 mm above the colony base; the latter branches are 10–14 mm long, 7–8 mm wide at their base, 4–5 mm at their uppermost part. The colony stalk is 45 mm wide at its widest part. The holotype is extremely flabby. The polyp body is up to 4 mm long, and the tentacles up to 4 mm long, featuring one row of pinnules on each side, with 8–10 pinnules. The pinnules are extremely short, up to 0.10 mm long and 0.30 mm wide, with no gap between adjacent ones. No sclerites are found in any part of the colony. The ethanolpreserved colony is light beige. The two fragments have similar features to those of the holotype.

Remarks. The original description of X. kuekenthali by Roxas (1933) indicated two rows of pinnules with 8 pinnules in a row, thus not corresponding to the current findings of one row of pinnules. Utinomi (1950) referred to a specimen from Japan as having two rows with 10–12 pinnules in the outermost row. Later, Benayahu (1990) reported this species from the Red Sea based on the original description. Reinicke (1997) described a pulsating colony of the species from the Gulf of Aqaba, and indicated that the validation of its presence in the Red Sea should be based on the examination of additional material. The current examination of the type of Xenia kuekenthali revealed that the original description was inaccurate, and thus most probably led to the recurring errors in the subsequent studies.

Similar species and conclusion. X. kuekenthali is the only Xenia species among those examined in this study with one row of pinnules.

Distribution. Philippines.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Scanning electron micrographs of polyp sclerites of Xenia flexibilis n. sp. holotype (ZMB 6105). a. Ellipsoid platelets, some fractured; b. Fractured sclerite revealing matrix of calcite rods, more or less radially arranged, at peripheral region; c. Overview of group of sclerites. Scale bar 0.010 mm.

FIGURE 2. Scanning electron micrographs of polyp sclerites of Xenia bauiana May, 1899 syntype (ZMB 3673). a. Ellipsoid platelets, mostly fractured; b. Fractured sclerite composed of dendritic rods, more or less radially arranged in the peripheral region; Scale bar at a 0.010 mm, at b 0.005 mm.