Rhipidipathes Milne-Edwards & Haime, 1857

Horowitz, Jeremy, Opresko, Dennis, Molodtsova, Tina N., Beaman, Robin J., Cowman, Peter F. & Bridge, Tom C. L., 2022, Five new species of black coral (Anthozoa; Antipatharia) from the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea, Australia, Zootaxa 5213 (1), pp. 1-35 : 10

publication ID	https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5213.1.1
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:193AA500-8D45-4E18-BB47-339A916BB11E
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7360662
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03DD8794-1236-FF90-A29F-279FAD54FC1E
treatment provided by	Plazi (2022-11-23 07:26:42, last updated 2024-11-27 07:33:42)
scientific name	Rhipidipathes Milne-Edwards & Haime, 1857
status

Treatment

Genus Rhipidipathes Milne-Edwards & Haime, 1857 View in CoL

Diagnosis. Corallum flabellate; anastomosing among some branches; polypar spines acute or blunt, smooth or tuberculate; circumpolypar spines slightly larger than interpolypar spines; hypostomal spines often equal to the circumpolypar spines but may be reduced in size or absent on some portions of the corallum.

Remarks. Although Rhipidipathes is currently in the Aphanipathidae , previous ( Brugler et al. 2013; Bo et al. 2018; Terrana et al. 2021) and the present study indicate that the genus is more closely related to species in the Antipathidae . The present study suggests that Rhipidipathes shares a lineage with the genus Blastopathes Horowitz, 2020 ( Fig 2 View FIGURE 2 ). Both genera have distinct morphological differences. For example, Rhipidipathes consists of thin branches that can fuse to create flabellate “fan-like” colonies ( Opresko 2004) and Blastopathes consists of thick, stem-like branches that do not fuse and possess branches that sprout from clusters to create “tree-like” colonies ( Horowitz et al. 2020). Due to the differences between these “sister” genera, their family-level relationships need to be verified.

Type Species: Rhipidipathes reticulata ( Esper 1795) View in CoL

Type Locality: East Indian Ocean

References

Bo, M., Barucca, M., Biscotti, M. A., Brugler, M. R., Canapa, A., Canese, S., lo Iacono, C. & Bavestrello, G. (2018) Phylogenetic relationships of Mediterranean black corals (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Hexacorallia) and implications for classification within the order Antipatharia. Invertebrate Systematics, 32, 1102. https: // doi. org / 10.1071 / is 17043

Brugler, M. R., Opresko, D. M. & France, S. C. (2013) The evolutionary history of the order Antipatharia (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Hexacorallia) as inferred from mitochondrial and nuclear DNA: implications for black coral taxonomy and systematics. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 169, 312 - 361. https: // doi. org / 10.1111 / zoj. 12060

Esper, E. J. C. (1795) Die Pflanzenthiere in Abbildungen nach der Natur mit Farben erleuchtet nebst Beschreibungen. in der Raspischen Buchhandlung, Nurnberg, 303 pp.

Haime, J. & Milne-Edwards, H. (1857) Histoire naturelle des coralliaires, ou polypes proprement dits; par H. Milne-Edwards ... Histoire naturelle des coralliaires, ou polypes proprement dits. Roret, Paris, 326 pp.

Horowitz, J., Brugler, M. R., Bridge, T. C. L. & Cowman, P. F. (2020) Morphological and molecular description of a new genus and species of black coral (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Hexacorallia: Antipatharia: Antipathidae: Blastopathes) from Papua New Guinea. Zootaxa, 4821 (3), 553 - 569. https: // doi. org / 10.11646 / zootaxa. 4821.3.7

Opresko, D. M. (2004) Revision of the Antipatharia (Cnidaria: Anthozoa). Part IV. Establishment of a new family, Aphanipathidae. Zoologische Mededelingen, Leiden, 78, 1 - 15.

Terrana, L., Flot, J. - F. & Eeckhaut, I. (2021) ITS 1 variation among Stichopathes cf. maldivensis (Hexacorallia: Antipatharia) whip black corals unveils conspecificity and population connectivity at local and global scales across the Indo-Pacific. Coral Reefs, 40, 521 - 533. https: // doi. org / 10.1007 / s 00338 - 020 - 02049 - 8