Clavulariidae sp.

Lau, Yee Wah & Reimer, James D., 2019, A first phylogenetic study on stoloniferous octocorals off the coast of Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia, with the description of two new genera and five new species, ZooKeys 872, pp. 127-158 : 127

Clavulariidae sp. Figure 3a

Material examined.

All specimens are from Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. NSMT-Co 1686, Edgell Patches, west of Sapi Island (06°00'38.7"N, 115°59'22.2"E), 18 m depth, coll. YW Lau. IPMB-C 01.00016, Gaya Clement Reef, west of Gaya Island, TARP (06°01'24.26"N, 116°00'13.55"E), 11 m depth, coll. YW Lau.

Description.

Colonies with 20-30 polyps are connected through flattened stolons, which have a varying width of 0.5-1 mm. Colonies can be loosely attached to sponge or rocky substrates, such as coral rubble. Polyps are transparent and clustered in groups, connected by stolons with lengths up to 4-5 mm. Expanded polyps were ~6.0-7.0 mm in width when alive, with the pharynx visible in all polyps. Polyps retract fully into the calyx, which is cylinder-shaped (~1.3 mm width and up to 1.5 mm tall) and do not retract fully into the stolon. The tentacles have approximately 11 pairs of pinnules, which are widely spaced apart. No sclerites were found in the specimens. Polyps are whitish translucent when alive (yellowish white when preserved in ethanol). Azooxanthellate.

Distribution.

West of Sapi and Gaya Islands, TARP, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia.

Remarks.

This material, henceforth Clavulariidae sp., can be identified to the family level Clavulariidae Hickson, 1894 by its initial morphological resemblance to the type species Azoriella bayeri Lopez-Gonzalez & Gili, 2001 and Cervera atlantica Lopez-Gonzalez et al., 1995 in having similar whitish translucent polyps, although, the polyps of C. atlantica are translucently orange. However, more diagnostic morphological features and more specimens are necessary before a genus- and species-level distinction can be made.

The main difference between Clavulariidae sp. and A. bayeri can be found in the absence of sclerites in Clavulariidae sp. Additionally, both type species C. atlantica and A. bayeri have polyps that are smaller than in Clavulariidae sp.; C. atlantica , ~5.1 mm width, A. bayeri , ~3.6 mm width, and Clavulariidae sp., ~6.0-7.0 mm width. As well, C. atlantica and A. bayeri have more pinnules on either side of the tentacles than seen in Clavularidae sp.; both C. atlantica and A. bayeri have 12-14 pinnules and Clavulariidae sp. has tentacles with 11 pairs.

Figures

Figure 3. In situ photographs of clavulariids found in and around TARP, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. a Clavulariidae sp., specimen NSMT-Co 1686 b Phenganax marumi sp. nov., holotype (NSMT-Co 1683) c Phenganax subtilis sp. nov., holotype (NSMT-Co 1684) d Phenganax stokvisi sp. nov., holotype (NSMT-Co 1685).