Kotatea, 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 : 7-8

Kotatea gen. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:89E20C47-8DAD-40C4-B7F7-58A4F8FE4F5A

Figs 1–4

Type species

Alcyonium aurantiacum Quoy & Gaimard, 1833 , here designated = Kotatea aurantiaca ( Quoy & Gaimard 1833) new combination.

Diagnosis

Azooxanthellate soft corals with an erect, lobate growth form. Colonies with finger-like lobes commonly displaying secondary and occasionally tertiary branching. Polyps monomorphic and fully retractile. True calyces absent, although retracted polyps may form low, rounded, mound-like protuberances of varying prominence depending on state of colony expansion. Anthocodial sclerites arranged as collaret and points, composed of slender, warty spindles, points contain thorny clubs distally. Tentacles contain irregular, warty, scale-like forms. Polyp neck contains mostly warty rod- and spindle-like forms. Polyp mounds also contain rod- and spindle-like forms but tend to have mostly clubs. Surface samples also contain a mix of sclerite forms, including rod-like forms and clubs, but radiates tend to predominate. The latter are mainly eight-radiate capstans and their derivatives. Sclerites of the interior differ from those of the surface in being generally larger and in displaying more complex branching processes. Interior sclerites can also be comprised of a mixture of forms, including radiates, rod- and spindle-like sclerites, spheroids and clubs. Sclerites pale to dark orange or colourless.

Etymology

Kotatea is the Māori word for red soft corals and is given as the genus name to acknowledge their original te reo (Māori language) names. Ko refers to a distant point in time, while tatea translates to offspring or progeny. Additionally, kota (hardened shell) refers to the substrate on which some colonies grow, while tea (white) refers to the polyps, which together cling to this foundation and illustrate the importance of whānau (family), unity, and security. Ngāti Kurī advised on the appropriateness of this name and provided the following kōrero (narrative): “ Kotatea is all about whānau (family) and whakapapa (genealogy) and their physical, emotional and spiritual domains. Whānau means to give birth. Whānau first embraces the individual, ahau, then whānau (family), then hapū (sub-tribe) and iwi (tribes). The word awhi (to embrace) is created from the first letters of ahau, whānau, hapū, and iwi. They are all connected and interdependent through whakapapa and a common tūpuna (ancestor). Whānau can also mean to give birth to new realities, for example to new ideas (ka whānau he whakaaro hou). Kotatea embraces the many challenges of the undersea world to sustain its whānau.”

Comparisons

Although Alcyonium sensu stricto has been limited to species possessing polyp sclerites in a collaret and points arrangement ( McFadden & van Ofwegen 2013a, 2017), species in that genus tend to approach this arrangement only loosely (e.g., Stokvis & van Ofwegen 2006), and A. digitatum (the type of the genus) appears to possess few sclerites in the polyp head with a somewhat irregular and inconsistent arrangement (see Hickson 1895; Verseveldt 1973). Compared to Kotatea gen. nov., where the collaret and points are substantial and comprised of many sclerites, only the Chilean nominal species of Alcyonium appear to have polyp armatures approximating the same level of development, but unlike Kotatea , some of these taxa are said to possess calyces (see Verseveldt & van Ofwegen 1992; Casas et al. 1997; van Ofwegen et al. 2007). Kotatea also has a much greater variety of surface sclerites, including clubs and well-developed modifications of the eight-radiates, than all other nominal species of Alcyonium .

Unlike Ushanaia gen. nov., Kotatea gen. nov. does not form encrusting colonies. Additionally, clubs constitute a predominant feature of polyp mounds, and surface and interior sclerites differ markedly in form, neither of which is the case for Ushanaia . Collaret spindles also tend to be smaller in Kotatea gen. nov. than in Ushanaia .

Figures

Fig. 1. Collection sites of specimens of Kotatea gen. nov. and Ushanaia gen. nov. Holotype collection sites are indicated by white symbols, paratypes and other material by black symbols. In the case of K. aurantiaca gen. et comb. nov., the type collection site refers to that described by Quoy & Gaimard (1833). A. Manawatāwhi/Three Kings Islands. B. Far northern NZ, from Piwhane/Spirits Bay to the Poor Knights Islands. C. Northern NZ, from the Mokohinau Islands to East Cape. D. Central NZ, Cook Strait to Banks Peninsula. E. South-East NZ, Fiordland. Note that the holotypes of K. kapotaiora gen. et sp. nov. and K. teorowai gen. et sp. nov. share the same collection site.

Fig. 2. Polyps. A. Kotatea amicispongia gen. et sp. nov., holotype (NIWA 156312). B. K. aurantiaca gen. et comb. nov. (NIWA 75330). C. K. kapotaiora gen. et sp. nov., holotype (NIWA 3974). D. K. kurakootingotingo gen. et sp. nov., holotype (NIWA 101538). E. K. kurakootingotingo gen. et sp. nov., paratype, small polyp with coloured collaret and points (MAGNT C015221). F. K. lobata gen. et sp. nov., holotype (NIWA 101313). G. K. niwa gen. et sp. nov., holotype (MAGNT C015226). H. K. raekura gen. et sp. nov., holotype (NIWA 101537). I. Ushanaia ferruginea gen. et sp. nov., holotype (NIWA 156313). J. U. fervens gen. et sp. nov., holotype (NIWA 156311). K. U. solida gen. et sp. nov., holotype (NIWA 102133). L. K. aurantiaca gen. et comb. nov., in situ (uncollected specimen), Poor Knights Islands, photo by Ian Skipworth (ianskipworth.com). M. U. fervens gen. et sp. nov., in situ (uncollected specimen), Fiordland, photo by Shane Geange. Scale bars = ~1 mm.

Fig. 3. In situ photographs of species of Kotatea gen. nov. usually possessing finger-like lobes. A–B. K. aurantiaca gen. et comb. nov. (uncollected specimens), expanded colonies with a contracted colony inupper right background of B, Poor KnightsIslands, photos by Ian Skipworth (ianskipworth.com). C. K. aurantiaca gen. et comb. nov. (MAGNT C013957/NIWA 101181), large colony, Bay of Plenty, photo by Coral Reef Research Foundation. D. K. raekura gen. et sp. nov., holotype (NIWA 101537), Manawatāwhi/Three Kings Islands, photo by NIWA. Scale bars = ~3 cm.

Fig. 4. In situ photographs of species of Kotatea gen. nov. usually possessing robust lobes. A. K. kurakootingotingo gen. et sp. nov., paratype (MAGNT C013955), Manawatāwhi/Three Kings Islands, photo by Coral Reef Research Foundation. B. K. kurakootingotingo gen. et sp. nov., holotype (NIWA 101538) with polyps retracted, Manawatāwhi/Three Kings Islands, photo by NIWA. C. K. lobata gen. et sp. nov., holotype (NIWA 101313), Houhora Harbour, photo by NIWA. D. K. lobata gen. et sp. nov. (paratype NIWA 101268 / MAGNT C013956), Mokohinau Islands, photo by Coral Reef Research Foundation. E–F. K. lobata gen. et sp. nov. exposed at low tide underneath rock overhangs, large colony (paratype, AK 120774) at Muriwai Beach (E) and small colony (uncollected specimen) at Whatipu Beach (F), photos by Wilma Blom, Auckland War Memorial Museum. Scale bars = ~3 cm.