Kotatea raekura, Kessel & Alderslade & Bilewitch & Schnabel & Norman & Potts & Gardner, 2022

Kessel, Gustav M., Alderslade, Philip, Bilewitch, Jaret P., Schnabel, Kareen E., Norman, Jerry, Potts, Romana Tekaharoa & Gardner, Jonathan P. A., 2022, Dead man’s fingers point to new taxa: two new genera of New Zealand soft corals (Anthozoa, Octocorallia) and a revision of Alcyonium aurantiacum Quoy & Gaimard, 1833, European Journal of Taxonomy 837, pp. 1-85 : 43-48

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.5852/ejt.2022.837.1923
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:7CBAC71F-FF75-411C-9CE9-AA633E16438E
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7094118
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/5C90162B-2FE1-4A6C-93D5-BF309CA3C6D1
taxon LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:act:5C90162B-2FE1-4A6C-93D5-BF309CA3C6D1
treatment provided by	Felipe
scientific name	Kotatea raekura
status	gen. et sp. nov.

Treatment

Kotatea raekura gen. et sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:5C90162B-2FE1-4A6C-93D5-BF309CA3C6D1

Figs 1A View Fig , 2H View Fig , 3D View Fig , 24A View Fig , 25 View Fig , 26A–D View Fig

Māori name

Raekura.

Diagnosis

Colonies have branching lobes and are orange with white polyps. Collaret and points are orange and composed of warty, often flattened spindles and poorly developed thorny clubs. Tentacles contain irregular, warty, scale-like sclerites. Polyp neck contains warty rod-like forms. Polyp mounds contain thorny and warty clubs. Lobe surface contains similar clubs, as well as warty, girdled spindle-like forms. Base surface contains thorny clubs, radiates, and spindle-like forms girdled with spines or warts. Lobe and base interior contains irregular, branching, warty forms.

Etymology

The species name was composed by the Ngāti Kurī Tira Me Te Wā Taiao (Science) Collective, and is a combination of the Māori words rae, forehead or ancient, treasured thoughts, and kura, which can mean red, but also red feathers used for decoration, treasure, sacred or precious possessions, divine law, philosophy and chief. Ngāti Kurī provided the following kōrero (narrative): “The forehead, the brain, this is where all pure thoughts are created and stored. Knowledge is passed on through wānanga (tribal knowledge and learning). Our mātauranga (knowledge) exists in both the visible and invisible universe. The taiao (natural world) says to us that we are simply guardians of a delicate balance of ecosystems. We need to continually create sustainable options to safeguard the future. We must listen to the voice of Papatūānuku (Earth mother). The orange crown at the top of Raekura’s polyps symbolises Te Ōpuawānanga (the flowering of knowledge) that is prevalent in the teachings of our tūpuna (ancestors). We must continue to strive to seek new knowledge whilst holding on to our ancient knowledge. Raekura explores the many dimensions towards knowledge acquisition. Many iwi and hapū (tribes and sub-tribes) have their unique complementing mātauranga. Dr Rangi Matamua of Tūhoe was given a manuscript from his grandfather to share the astronomical knowledge written by their tūpuna Te Kokau Himiona Te Pikikotuku and his son Rawiri Te Kokau in the 19 th century. His grandfather uttered these wise words: ‘Knowledge that isn’t shared isn’t knowledge’.”

Material examined

Holotype NEW ZEALAND • Manawatāwhi / Three Kings Islands, Princes Islands; 34.1759° S, 172.0495° E; depth 10–20 m; 24 Feb. 2002; NIWA exped.; stn Z15942 View Materials ; NIWA 101537 View Materials . GoogleMaps

Paratypes NEW ZEALAND • 1 specimen; same collection data as for holotype; AK 73621 GoogleMaps • 2 specimens; Manawatāwhi / Three Kings Islands, Princes Islands; 34.1777° S, 172.0465° E; depth 6–11 m; 15 Apr. 1999; Coral Reef Research Foundation exped; stn Z15632 View Materials ; NIWA 100968 View Materials GoogleMaps .

Additional material

NEW ZEALAND – Manawatāwhi / Three Kings Islands • 1 specimen; Princes Islands ; 34.1667° S, 172.0500° E; depth 5–10 m; 15 Apr. 1999; J. Starmer leg.; MAGNT C015223 About MAGNT GoogleMaps • 1 specimen; Princes Islands ; 34.1777° S, 172.0465° E; depth 10 m; 15 Apr. 1999; Coral Reef Research Foundation exped.; MAGNT C013954 About MAGNT GoogleMaps • 2 specimens; Ōhau / West Island ; 34.1839° S, 172.0304° E; depth 6–11 m; 12 Apr. 2013; S. Hannam et al. leg.; stn TK2013-25-276; AK 656516 View Materials GoogleMaps .

Description (holotype, NIWA 101537)

Colony form

The holotype ( Fig. 24A View Fig ) is a fragment of a larger colony ( Fig. 3D View Fig ) and measures 6 cm in height by 6 cm width. It is orange (ethanol-preserved), fading towards the base. Polyps are white, 0.5–1 mm tall when expanded, with orange collaret and points ( Fig. 2H View Fig ). They occur all over the lobes but are most densely packed at their tips and absent from the base, which is ~ 2 cm tall.

Sclerites

Points are composed of warty spindles (~ 0.18–0.26 mm long), which are rarely branched and often flattened, and poorly developed thorny clubs distally (~ 0.1–0.2 mm long) ( Fig. 25A–B View Fig ). Proximally, the spindles become larger, more robust, and more crescentic (~ 0.28–0.36 mm long), transitioning into a transverse orientation and merging with the collaret, which is three to five rows deep ( Figs 5A View Fig , 26D View Fig ). The tentacles contain irregular, warty, scale-like forms, often curved (~ 0.1–0.2 mm long) ( Fig. 25C View Fig ), and the polyp neck contains warty rod-like forms (~ 0.08–0.12 mm long) ( Fig. 25D View Fig ). Polyp mounds are composed mainly of thorny and warty clubs (~ 0.08–0.14 mm long) ( Fig. 25E View Fig ). The surface of lobes between mounds contains similar clubs along with numerous warty, girdled spindle-like forms (~ 0.08– 0.18 mm long) ( Fig. 25F View Fig ). The surface of the base contains thorny clubs along with some radiates and spindle-like forms girdled with spines or warts, which tend to have a simpler surface ornamentation and are smaller than those in the lobe surface (~ 0.06–0.14 mm long) ( Fig. 26B View Fig ). The sclerites in the interior of both the lobes and the base are composed mainly of irregular forms with branches and very tall warts (~ 0.1–0.2 mm long) ( Fig. 26A, C View Fig ).

Variability

All preserved specimens are similar in growth form, but colour can vary from one colony to another, with some specimens being paler and some darker than the holotype ( Fig. 24A View Fig ). The colour of the collaret and points corresponds roughly to the overall colour of the colony, being paler in some specimens and darker in others, but never fully colourless. Both paratype lots and the three non-type lots correspond very closely with the sclerite composition and size ranges described for the holotype ( Figs 25–26 View Fig View Fig ).

Comparisons

Kotatea raekura gen. et sp. nov. is most similar to K. aurantiaca gen. et comb. nov. and K. teorowai gen. et sp. nov., but easily distinguished from both these species by its orange collaret and points. Further differences from K. aurantiaca gen. et comb. nov. are discussed under that species.

Apart from containing sclerites that are overall far more robust (compare Figs 25–26 View Fig View Fig and 28 View Fig ), Kotatea raekura gen. et sp. nov. specimens further differ from K. teorowai gen. et sp. nov. in possessing abundant interior sclerites sculptured with tall warts. In contrast, the few interior sclerites present in K. teorowai have only minimal surface ornamentation (compare Figs 26A, C View Fig and 27H View Fig ). The colour difference between these two species is also conspicuous (compare Fig. 24A and 24B View Fig ), and K. raekura has so far only been collected from much shallower depths than K. teorowai (<20 m vs ~ 70 m).

Habitat and distribution

All known specimens originate from shallow depths (≤ 20 m) at the Manawatāwhi/Three Kings Islands ( Fig. 1A View Fig ). MAGNT C013954 was recorded as growing on a rock wall.