Menella praelonga ( Ridley, 1884 )

Ramvilas, Ghosh, Alderslade, Philip & Ranjeet, Kutty, 2023, The taxonomy of Indian gorgonians: an assessment of the descriptive records of gorgonians (Anthozoa: Octocorallia: Alcyonacea) recorded as occurring in the territorial waters of India, along with neighbouring regions and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and the highlighting of perceived unethical practice, Zootaxa 5236 (1), pp. 1-124 : 64

publication ID	https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5236.1.1
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:796FF9F5-E71F-4C69-92CC-CF4D6752BD77
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7639537
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/0388B641-7B29-FF93-FF56-FC66FBCEFA0A
treatment provided by	Plazi (2023-02-08 15:54:05, last updated 2024-11-28 18:43:59)
scientific name	Menella praelonga ( Ridley, 1884 )
status

Treatment

Menella praelonga ( Ridley, 1884) View in CoL View at ENA

Plexaura praelonga Ridley, 1884: 339–340 View in CoL , pl. 36, fig. F; pl. 38, fig. g, g 1 (Port Curtis).

Opinion: There is no evidence this species occurs in the region.

Justification:

These Indian records seem to be either invalid or unconfirmable: Thomson & Henderson 1905: 304 (Gulf of Mannar, Sri Lanka); Thomson & Simpson 1909: 262–263 (Andamans); Thomas & George 1986: 99–101 (Gulf of Mannar), fig. 1d, 1–4; Thomas et al. 1995: 136, fig. 2b, 1–3 (NE coast).

Literature analysis:

In the Indian reports this species is described as being a Plexauroides . The blade of the leafscales of the species is rarely divided but characteristically has irregularly arranged elongate ridges that radiate from the region where the blade arises from the complexly branched root. This feature is missing from all of the Indian records. Thomas & George (1987), Rao & Devi (2003) and Varghese et al. (2007) just list the species.

References

Rao, D. V. & Devi, K. (2003) Studies on the soft corals (Octocorallia: Alcyonacea) of Andaman Islands, Bay of Bengal. Records of the Zoological Survey of India, Occasional paper, 206, 1 - 99.

Ridley, S. O. (1884) Alcyonaria. In: Report on the Zoological Collections made in the Indo-Pacific Ocean during the Voyage of H. M. S. ' Alert' 1881 - 2. British Museum, London, pp. 327 - 365, pls. 36 - 38.

Thomas, P. A. & George, R. M. (1986) A systematic appraisal of the commercially important gorgonids of the Indian seas. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of India, 28 (1 & 2), 96 - 112.

Thomas, P. A. & George, R. M. (1987) Gorgonid resources of India. Marine Fisheries Information Services, 74, 1 - 13.

Thomas, P. A., George, R. M. & Lazarus, S. (1995) Distribution of gorgonids in the northeast coast of India with particular reference to Heterogorgia flabellum (Pallas). Journal of the Marine Biological Association of India, 37, 134 - 142.

Thomson, J. A. & Henderson, W. D. (1905) Report on the Alcyonaria collected by Professor Herdman, at Ceylon, in 1902. In: Herdman, W. A. (Eds.), Report of the Government of Ceylon on the Pearl Oyster Fisheries of the Gulf of Manaar. Part 3. Supplementary report. The Royal Society, London, pp. 269 - 238.

Thomson, J. A. & Simpson, J. J. (1909) An account of the alcyonarians collected by the Royal Indian Marine Survey Ship Investigator in the Indian Ocean. The Alcyonarians of the Littoral Area. The Indian Museum, Calcutta, 319 + xviii pp.

Varghese, M., George, R. M. & Kasinathan, C. (2007) Recent gorgonid resources of Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay, India. Marine Fisheries Information Service Technical & Extension Series, 194, 14 - 17.