Nicella pustulosa Thomson & Simpson, 1909

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 : 97

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.7639736
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/0388B641-7B76-FFCC-FF56-FB4AFB58F99A
treatment provided by	Plazi (2023-02-08 15:54:05, last updated 2024-11-28 18:43:59)
scientific name	Nicella pustulosa Thomson & Simpson, 1909
status

Treatment

Nicella pustulosa Thomson & Simpson, 1909 View in CoL

Nicella pustulosa Thomson & Simpson, 1909: 267–268 View in CoL , pl. 5, fig. 6; pl. 8, fig. 11 (Laccadives; Andamans).

Opinion: This species does occur in the region but its true identity is unknown.

Justification:

Literature analysis: Kükenthal (1924) synonymised this species, using a question mark, with Phenilia sanguinolenta Gray, 1859 , but the redescription of that species given by Bayer & Grasshoff (1994: 39) clearly shows that it is very different from Nicella pustulosa . It is more likely that the species belongs in the genus Verrucella , but some of the sclerites illustrated by Thomson & Simpson are quite unusual, so the actual genus represented by Thomson and Simpsons’ material remains unknown. Rao & Devi (2003) just list the species.

References

Bayer, F. M. & Grasshoff, M. (1994) The genus group taxa of the family Ellisellidae, with clarification of the genera established by J. E. Gray (Cnidaria; Octocorallia). Senckenbergiana biologica, 74 (1 / 2), 21 - 45.

Gray, J. E. (1859) Description of some new genera of lithophytes or stony zoophytes. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 1859, 479 - 486.

Kukenthal, W. (1924) Gorgonaria. Das Tierreich. Vol. 47. Walter de Gruyter and Co., Berlin und Leipzig, xxviii + 478 pp.

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.

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.