Astreopora cenderawasih, Wallace & Turak & DeVantier, 2011

Wallace, Carden C., Turak, Emre & DeVantier, Lyndon, 2011, Novel characters in a conservative coral genus: three new species of Astreopora (Scleractinia: Acroporidae) from West Papua, Journal of Natural History 45 (31 - 32), pp. 1905-1924 : 1909-1912

Astreopora cenderawasih sp. nov.

( Figures 2A , 3 )

Type locality

Cenderawasih Bay , West Papua .

Material examined

Holotype. MTQ G60697 Indonesia, West Papua, Cenderawasih Bay, Pulau Nurage TNTC 3 ◦ 1.8 ′ S, 134 ◦ 50.1 ′ E; depth 2 m, collected E. Turak 19 February 2006.

Paratypes. MTQ: G60695 Indonesia, West Papua, Cenderawasih Bay, Pulau Nurage TNTC 3 ◦ 1.8 ′ S, 134 ◦ 50.1 ′ E; depth 4 m, collected L. DeVantier 19 February 2006 ; G60696 Indonesia, West Papua, Cenderawasih Bay, Teluk Manu TNTC 2 ◦ 28.9 ′ S, 134 ◦ 33.8 ′ E, depth 4 m, collected L. DeVantier 22 February 2006 ; G60698 Indonesia, West Papua, Cenderawasih Bay, Pulau Nurage TNTC 3 ◦ 1.8 ′ S, 134 ◦ 50.1 ′ E, 2 m collected E. Turak 19 February 2006 .

Etymology

Named for the bay in which it was found, “bird of paradise” in Indonesian.

Diagnosis

Colony indeterminate in growth, mostly consisting of vertical branching units, but some small plates may occur at the base; branching units develop from a thick basal branch that divides into several branchlets, which may also divide; corallites occur up to the tip, which is formed of coenosteum. Corallites tubular, immersed, conical or appressed, with round to oval openings, irregularly scattered on branch surface and mostly not touching; outer diameter of opening 1.5–3.0 mm; inner diameter 0.8–2.0 mm; primary septa all present as laminae to 1 / 3R, forming a pseudocolumella deeper in corallite; secondary septa some to all present as laminae or points. Coenosteum evenly distributed spinules which are tall, irregular cone-shaped with blade-like ridges running lengthwise; tips of branches formed by irregular reticulate growth without spinules.

Skeletal characteristics

Holotype. Part of colony, 100 mm greatest width and 86 mm height. Corallum is an irregular arrangement of vertical palmate branching units, flattened in cross-section, without axial corallites, given off from an irregular basal region. In each palmate unit, a basal branch divides into two to several branches towards its tips. Corallites tubular, immersed, conical or appressed, with round to oval openings, irregularly scattered on branch surface and mostly not touching; outer diameter of opening 1.75–2.17 mm, inner diameter 0.88–1.98 mm; primary septa all present as irregular vertical laminae, with some to all extending to form a pseudo-columella; secondary septa present as points or narrow plates up to 1 / 4R. Coenosteum evenly distributed spinules which are tall, irregular cone-shaped with blade-like ridges running lengthwise; tips of branches formed by irregular reticulate growth without spinules.

Variations shown in paratypes. Branching diverges from the palmate mode in some colonies, with branches sometimes thickening towards their centre and sometimes extending at angles from each other; branches are sometimes in the form of chimneylike columns (similar to those occasionally seen in Astreopora moretonensis ).

Field characteristics

Colour pale to dark brown and purple-grey, colonies spreading to around 1 m diameter.

Habitat

Sandy reef flat and upper reef slope at 2–5 m.

Distribution

To date, recorded from Cenderawasih Bay only; see Figure 1 .

Figures

Figure 1. Map of Cenderawasih Bay, West Papua, showing locations for new Astreopora species. Symbols: triangles, Astreopora cenderawasih; squares, Astreopora acroporina; circles, Astreopora montiporina; (see Turak and DeVantier, forthcoming, for locations of all sample sites).

Figure 2. Field appearance of the three new Astreopora species in Cenderawasih Bay, West Papua. (A) Astreopora cenderawasih; (B) Astreopora acroporina; (C) Astreopora montiporina.

Figure 3. Astreopora cenderawasih sp. nov. (A–C) Holotype MTQ G60697; (D–F) paratype MTQ G60695. (A) Whole specimen; (B) scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of coenosteal spinules; (C) close up of group of branches formed by dendritic division of basal branch; (D) SEM of branch tip, coenosteum with no axial corallite; (E) branch tip; (F) SEM showing radial corallite detail. Scale bars: A, C, E: 10 mm; B, F: 1 mm; D: 100 µm.