Hanabira, Lau & Stokvis & Imahara & Reimer, 2019

Lau, Yee Wah, Stokvis, Frank R., Imahara, Yukimitsu & Reimer, James D., 2019, The stoloniferous octocoral, Hanabira yukibana, gen. nov., sp. nov., of the southern Ryukyus has morphological and symbiont variation, Contributions to Zoology 88 (1), pp. 54-77 : 75

Genus Hanabira , gen. nov.

Clavulariinae gen. Okinawa Churashima Foundation and Biological Institute on Kuroshio , 2016 .

Type species. Hanabira yukibana , sp. nov., by original designation and monotypy.

Diagnosis. Colony with anthocodiae that retract into cylindrical to barrel-shaped calyces, which do not retract into the stolons. Tentacles with pinnules arranged adjacent to one another along either side of the tentacle rachis and are fused together (pseudopinnules). Sclerites of anthocodiae are platelets with a distinct median waist and small smooth rods, with the tentacles having only the platelet type. Sclerites of calyces are small spindles, which are larger than the anthocodial rods and are prickly and warty. Sclerites of stolon are a tubular network of fused sclerites. Zooxanthellate.

Etymology. From the Japanese language ‘hanabira’ (AE"), meaning ‘petal’. After the flower petal-like shape of the polyp tentacles. Gender: feminine.

Remarks. The main morphological differences with closest sister taxa, genera Clavularia and Knopia : the tentacle rachis of Clavularia contains smooth to warty rods and long, narrow spindles (~1.0 mm), which are prickly or complexly warted, and sometimes branched. The calyces of genus Clavularia contain similar spindles, but can be twice as long (Fabricius & Alderslade, 2001). The anthocodiae of Hanabira do not contain warty rods and large, prickly or warted spindles are completely lacking.