Euplexaura albida Kükenthal, 1908

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 : 59-60

Euplexaura albida Kükenthal, 1908

Euplexaura albida Kükenthal, 1908: 495 ( Australia) ; Kükenthal 1910: 87, fig. 56, pl. 1 fig. 7.

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

Justification:

These Indian records seem to be either invalid or unconfirmable: Fernando 2011: 38, pl. 16, fig. 1–1d (Uvari); Fernando et al. 2017: 74, pl. 30, fig. 1–1e (Uvari).

Literature analysis: The accounts of Fernando (2011) and Fernando et al. (2017) are identical but it is difficult to assign a genus to their material without a more detailed description. The colony does not seem to match the characteristic form of Euplexaura , and neither do the illustrated sclerites, which include large, thick spindles and girdled spindles with a distinct waist, both of which can have ornamentation more developed on one side than the other, and also long, slender rather smooth polyp sclerites. The material is quite different from the Australian material described by Kükenthal in which the coenchymal sclerites are mostly oval forms about 0.12 mm long with a slight waist as compared to having slender spindles 0.16 mm long and ellipsoid spindles 1.4 mm long, and it quite possibly belongs to the genus Leptogorgia .