Junceella eunicelloides 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 : 93

Junceella eunicelloides Grasshoff, 1999

Junceella eunicelloides Grasshoff, 1999: 70 , fig. 116; pl. 7, fig. 1 ( 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: 22, pl. 8, fig. A–D (Munak Gate); Fernando et al. 2017: 252, pl. 117, fig. A–D (Munak Gate).

Literature analysis: The publications of Kumar et al. (2014a) and Fernando et al. (2017) present virtually identical accounts, but the true characteristics of their material are unknown because most of their description is from that of Grasshoff (1999) making it very unreliable. The text is copied and rearranged, even down to stating that colonies also grow to 3 m tall, also occur at 15–35 m depth, and are also coloured red when the colonies in their images are white. Additionally, only one of the club sclerites they figure resemble those of the holotype, and this is notably similar to one figured in their description of Junceella delicata . Kumar et al. (2015) and Kumar et al. (2019b) just list the species and provide a colony image. This species is probably endemic to New Caledonia.