Muricella nitida ( Verrill, 1868 )

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 : 41-42

Muricella nitida ( Verrill, 1868)

Muricea nitida Verrill, 1868: 412 (Ebon Island).

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

Justification:

These Indian records seem to be either invalid or unconfirmable: Thomas & George 1990: 419, pl. 1A, fig. 1b: 1–3 (off Bombay); Fernando 2011: 36, pl. 14, fig. 1–1c (SW coast); Fernando et al. 2017: 70, pl. 28, fig. 1–1c (SW coast).

Literature analysis: This species was collected in the Marshall Islands, in the North Pacific and originally placed by Verrill (1868) in the genus Muricea , but then Verrill (1869) transferred it to Muricella . However, the species is unidentifiable as Verrill’s description was very brief and gave no illustrations and there have been no redescriptions of the holotype. Germanos (1896) did present a description with an illustration of a branch fragment with polyps, but in his text he said that despite Verrill’s inadequate description, he believed he could identify the Muricella species that Muricea nitida represented. Thomson & Henderson (1905: 302–303) identified a colony with this species from Sri Lanka, but the description is so poor it is impossible to determine what they had.

The material described by Thomas & George (1990) had calyces and was possibly an Astrogorgia . The accounts given by Fernando (2011) and Fernando et al. (2017) are identical and describe specimens with” highly retractile” polyps and sclerome of spindles, which indicates they probably also had an Astrogorgia .