Junceella juncea (Pallas, 1766)

For references see Grasshoff, 2000: 106. Junceella fragilis; Stiasny, 1940: 136.

Not Junceella fragilis Ridley, 1884: 347 .

FIGURE 33. RMNH Coel. 38785, Trimuricea aff. reticulata (Thomson & Simpson, 1909): a, thornscales; b, spindles.

Material: RMNH Coel. 38787, one colony, E of Kish Island, coll. K. Samimi Namin; RMNH Coel. 38788, one colony, Kharku Island, 29º 20' 51.1" N, 50º 21' 17.7" E, coll. K. Samimi Namin, 31 march 2007; RMNH Coel. 38789, two colonies, Hengam Island, 26º 36' 41.6" N, 55º 50' 31.5" E, coll. K. Samimi Namin; RMNH Coel. 38790, two colonies, Farur Island, coll. S.A. Mohtarami; RMNH Coel. 38791, one colony, Strait of Hormuz, Qeshm Island, has been deposited in the Persian Gulf Biotechnology Research Center, 18 May 2006; RMNH Coel. 38792, several branches, off Dubai, Koninklijke Shell Exploratie en produktie laboratorium, station T1260, coll. A.J. Keij, 1966; RMNH Coel. 6453, three microscope slides of the specimen identified as Junceella fragilis by Stiasny.

Remarks. The microscope slides RMNH Coel. 6453 of Junceella fragilis showed us Stiasny’s identification was incorrect.

Several of our specimens had side branches, the two colonies from Farur Island were even sparsely branched, a phenomenon not mentioned in the literature.