Pseudopterogorgia rubrotincta ( Thomson & Henderson, 1905 )

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 : 82

Pseudopterogorgia rubrotincta ( Thomson & Henderson, 1905)

Lophogorgia rubrotincta Thomson & Henderson, 1905: 307 , pl. 4, fig. 12 ( Sri Lanka).

Pseudopterogorgia rubrotincta (new comb.) Williams & Vennam 2001: 88, fig. 12b.

Opinion: This species does occur in the region.

Justification:

These Indian records could be valid: Fernando 2011: 102–103, pl. 63, fig. 1–1c (SE coast); Fernando et al. 2017: 207–208, pl. 95, fig. 1–1c (SE coast).

Literature analysis: This species was originally described from Sri Lanka as Lophogorgia rubrotincta by Thomson & Henderson (1905) who only provided a very brief and poor description with a figure of a small portion of the colony but no illustrations of sclerites. Other than some data on the colony form, these authors only remarked that the sclerites were rough spindles commonly 0.1 mm x 0.04 mm, but many much shorter, and that there was a median line of red sclerites along the flattened faces of the yellow stem and branches. Fortunately, the holotype was re-examined by Williams & Vennam (2001), who transferred the species to the genus Pseudopterogorgia , figured some sclerites, and remarked that “The specimen is orange red with a thin red medial line. The sclerites do not exceed 15 mm in length. Most scaphoids are indistinct but a few are more distinctly developed with smooth tubercles on the convex side.”

The descriptions of the Indian material by Fernando (2011) and Fernando et al. (2017) are identical, but the sclerite images are too small to see the required detail, so it is impossible to tell which sclerites are scaphoids and if they have smooth tubercles on the convex side. The colony is described as having “pink” sclerites around each polyp aperture making it a “conspicuous red spot”, with a “red band on either side of the light yellow broad median longitudinal planar surfaces of the sides of the branches.” It therefore seems likely that their material is correctly identified.