Eunephthya ericius, Mcfadden, Catherine S. & Van, Leen P., 2012

Mcfadden, Catherine S. & Van, Leen P., 2012, A revision of the soft coral genus, Eunephthya Verrill, 1869 (Anthozoa: Octocorallia: Nephtheidae), with a description of four new species from South Africa, Zootaxa 3485, pp. 1-25 : 12

Eunephthya ericius , new species

Figures 3d, 4b, 6

Material examined. Holotype: RMNH Coel. 40176, South Africa, Algoa Bay, Bell Buoy 1, 33º58.927'S, 25º41.473'E, depth 17–22 m, coll. C.S. McFadden, 15 March 2008. Paratypes: RMNH Coel. 40178, South Africa, Algoa Bay, White Sands 15, 33º59.900'S, 25º42.522'E, depth 14–16 m, coll. C.S. McFadden, 12 March 2008; USNM 1178382, USNM 1178383, same data as RMNH Coel. 40178.

Description. The holotype is an arborescent colony, 4.0 cm tall with a well-demarcated stalk and wider polyparium (Fig. 4b). The stalk is 2.0 cm long and 1.2 cm in diameter, with a few longitudinal furrows and numerous transverse wrinkles. The polyparium is more or less spherical, 2.0 cm tall and 2.0 cm in diameter at its widest point, and consists of a number of elongated lobes. Catkins bearing 10–15 polyps each are distributed over the surface of the lobes. The polyps are club-shaped and curved inwards with the oral surface facing the catkin axis; most have the tentacles contracted. In situ, the expanded colony can be seen to have a central stalk with the catkinbearing lobes arising at intervals as short branches (Fig. 3d).

Sclerites are distributed asymmetrically around the body of the polyp. The polyp’s convex abaxial surface is heavily armed with unilaterally spinose spindles (Fig. 6a) and leaf clubs (Fig. 6b), 0.12–0.20 mm long, with simple to complex tubercles. These sclerites are oriented with spines or leaves protruding outward. The concave adaxial surface of the polyp has transverse rows of flat spindles, 0.12–0.24 mm long, with complex tubercles (Fig. 6c). The bases of the tentacles have small spindles, 0.09–0.14 mm long, with complex tubercles, distally becoming flatter with fewer tubercles (Fig. 6d). The surface of the polyparium and stalk have small radiates and tuberculate spheroids, 0.03–0.06 mm long (Fig. 6e). The interior of the colony lacks sclerites.

The paratypes range from 1.7 to 3.7 cm tall; in all of them the stalk comprises approximately one-half of the total colony height. In all other respects they resemble the holotype. The holotype and paratypes have identical DNA sequences at 28S rDNA, but vary slightly at mtMutS (1.5-1.9%) and COI (0.5-1.0%) (Fig. 1).

Color. In life, colonies are pale orange (Fig. 3d), fading to cream in alcohol. The sclerites are colorless.

Etymology. From the Latin ericius meaning hedgehog, also “thickly studded with iron spikes as a military barrier”, reflecting the high unilateral spines on the spindles.

Remarks. As discussed above, E. ericius n. sp. is similar morphologically to E. celata n. sp., but differs from it genetically and in the form of the polyp sclerites. Both of these species are also similar to E. susanae ( Williams, 1988) . In E. susanae , however, the colony growth form is digitate rather than arborescent (Fig. 3e), with the polyps on catkins that are arranged around an unbranched polyparium rather than on lobes. In addition, in E. susanae the radiates in the stalk surface and interior of the colony (Fig. 12) are twice the size of those found in either E. ericius n. sp. or E. celata n. sp.