Narella Gray, 1870

Cairns, Stephen D., 2018, Deep-Water Octocorals (Cnidaria, Anthozoa) from the Galapagos and Cocos Islands. Part 1: Suborder Calcaxonia, ZooKeys 729, pp. 1-46 : 12

Genus Narella Gray, 1870

Narella Gray 1870: 49; Cairns and Bayer 2003: 618-619; 2007b: 84-86; Cairns and Bayer 2009: 43; Cairns and Baco 2007: 392-393; Cairns 2012: 14.

Stachyodes Wright and Studer 1889: 49; Versluys 1906: 86-88; Kükenthal 1919: 452-456.

Type species.

Primnoa regularis Duchassaing and Michelotti, 1860, by monotypy.

Diagnosis.

(from Cairns 2012): Colonies dichotomously branched (laterally), pinnate, or unbranched. Polyps arranged in whorls, all polyps facing downward. Each polyp covered with three (rarely four) pairs of abaxial body wall scales, one pair of basals, one or two pairs of medials, one pair of buccals, and one to four pairs of small adaxial scales, nevertheless leaving the adaxial side largely naked. Articular ridge present between basal and medial body wall scale. Distal margins of body wall scales often spinose, toothed, or lobate, often extending as a protective cowl. Opercular scale usually keeled. Coenenchymal scales often quite thick, of variable shape, sometimes ridged (i.e., “sail-scales”). Tentacular platelets often present.

Distribution.

All ocean basins except Arctic, 128-4594 m deep.

Remarks.

Previously ( Cairns 2012) I stated that there were 43 valid species of Narella , but I inadvertently counted two junior synonyms within this tabulation, so, in fact, there are only 41 valid species. The new species described herein brings the total to 42. A unified key to all species known after 1924 ( Kükenthal 1924) does not exist, but regional keys are available for 29 of these species: the seven western Atlantic species ( Cairns and Bayer 2003), the nine Hawaiian species ( Cairns and Bayer 2007 b), the five Alaskan species ( Cairns and Baco 2007), and the eight New Zealand species ( Cairns 2012).