Melithaea ouvea ( Grasshoff, 1999 )

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 : 30

Melithaea ouvea ( Grasshoff, 1999)

Acabaria ouvea Grasshoff, 1999: 10 , fig. 10; pl. 2, fig. 4 ( New Caledonia).

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

Justification:

These Indian records seem to be either invalid or unconfirmable: Kumar et al. 2014a: 92, pl. 43, fig. A–E (Middle Andaman); Fernando et al. 2017: 35, pl. 13, fig. A–E (Middle Andaman).

Literature analysis: The descriptions given by Kumar et al. (2014a) and Fernando et al. (2017) are identical, but it is impossible to know the true characteristics of their specimen as much of the description is taken word-forword from Grasshoff (1999). Nevertheless, the small sclerites illustrated by these authors bear no resemblance to the robust, unilaterally, complexly tuberculated spindles shown by Grasshoff (1999) for the holotype. Also, the colony shown by those authors is bushy while the holotype is planar. Kumar et al. (2015) just lists the species, as does Kumar et al. (2019) along with a colony image.