Ovabunda benayahui (Reinicke, 1995)
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publication ID |
https://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.373.6511 |
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persistent identifier |
https://treatment.plazi.org/id/9B3B17A3-EF25-4CC3-092D-15089309DB41 |
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treatment provided by |
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scientific name |
Ovabunda benayahui (Reinicke, 1995) |
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Ovabunda benayahui (Reinicke, 1995) Figs 6 View Figure 6 ,7 View Figure 7
Xenia nana ; Benayahu 1990: 117-118, fig. 3, table 1.
Xenia benayahui Reinicke, 1995: 26-27, figs 1c, 15; 1997: 29, fig. 12, plate 16.
Ovabunda benayahui ; Alderslade 2001: 51; Janes 2008: 609-610, fig. 7.
Material.
Holotype and two paratypes (the holotype is the largest colony): RMNH Coel. 19664, northern Red Sea, Gulf of Aqaba, Saudi Arabian border bay, 20 km south to Aqaba (29°21'37.31"N, 34°57'39.48"E), 21 m, 3 October 1989, coll. G. B. Reinicke; additional material: ZMTAU Co 26043, northern Red Sea, Gulf of Suez, Shag Rock (27°47'13.59"N, 34°0'22.61"E), 14 July 1987, coll. Y. Benayahu; ZMTAU Co 26044, northern Red Sea, Gulf of Suez, Southern tip of Sinai, Shaab el Utaf (27°45'9.00"N, 34°10'18.00"E), 10 m, 8 July 1986, coll. Y. Benayahu.
Description.
The holotype is 25 mm high; stalk is 10 mm long, 6 mm wide at colony-base, and 15 mm wide at the uppermost part. The polyp’s body is up to 4 mm long, and the tentacles up to 4 mm long, featuring a single row of 6-7 pinnules along each edge. The pinnules are short, up to 0.7 mm long and 0.4 mm wide with a 0.2-0.3 mm gap between adjacent pinnules. The sclerites are Ovabunda -type spheroids ( Fig. 6a View Figure 6 ) and measure 0.019-0.035 × 0.027-0.041 mm in diameter (n = 22 sclerites). When two sclerites are fused they measure up to 0.043 mm in maximal diameter ( Fig. 6b View Figure 6 ). The original description indicated non-pulsating polyps in live colonies. The ethanol-preserved colony is light brown-beige.
Remarks.
ZMTAU Co 26043, originally identified by Benayahu (1990) as Xenia nana , comprises 13 colonies up to 17 mm in height. Their stalks are not divided, and are up to 8 mm long, 8 mm wide at the base, and 10 mm wide at the uppermost part. Polyp’s body reaches up to 1.4 mm in length, tentacles up to 1.6 mm, featuring a row of 5-6 closely set pinnules, 0.4 mm long and 0.16 mm wide. Sclerites are Ovabunda -type spheroids ( Fig. 7a View Figure 7 ), 0.016-0.029 × 0.020-0.039 mm in diameter (n = 34 sclerites); some are egg-shaped ( Fig. 7c View Figure 7 ) and sometimes two spheroids are fused ( Fig. 7b View Figure 7 ). ZMTAU Co 26044 comprises several disintegrated small colonies, similar in size to those of ZMTAU Co 26043. There are 5-7 pinnules in a single row on each side of the tentacles. The sclerites are Ovabunda -type, 0.015-0.031 × 0.022-0.039 mm in diameter (n = 34 sclerites). Polyp pulsation was not noted by Benayahu (1990). The colonies (ZMTAU Co 26043-26044) were misidentified as Xenia nana by Benayahu (1990) and should be reassigned to Ovabunda benayahui . The type of Xenia nana (BML 1939.6.12.9) was examined by the last author of the current paper and found to be of the genus Aldersladum Benayahu & McFadden, 2011.
Conclusions.
The features of the holotype and paratypes of Ovabunda benayahui agree with the original description of the species, and the assignment to Ovabunda by Alderslade (2001) was confirmed in the current study.
Similar species.
Ovabunda benayahui is most similar to Ovabunda verseveldti . Although they both have one row of pinnules, the numbers of pinnules in the outermost row ranges from 6-7 in Ovabunda benayahui compared to 12-18 in Ovabunda verseveldti .
Distribution.
Red Sea: Gulf of Aqaba, Southern tip of Sinai Peninsula; Seychelles (see Janes 2008).
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