Astreopora montiporina, Wallace & Turak & DeVantier, 2011

Wallace, Carden C., Turak, Emre & DeVantier, Lyndon, 2011, Novel characters in a conservative coral genus: three new species of Astreopora (Scleractinia: Acroporidae) from West Papua, Journal of Natural History 45 (31 - 32), pp. 1905-1924 : 1915-1917

Astreopora montiporina sp. nov.

( Figures 2C , 5 )

Type locality

Cenderawasih Bay , West Papua .

Material examined

Holotype. MTQ: G60711 Indonesia, West Papua, Nabire, southeast Moor , 2 ◦ 56.1 ′ S, 135 ◦ 44.9 ′ E; depth 12 m collected E. Turak 15 February 2006.

Paratypes. MTQ: G60710 Indonesia, West Papua, Nabire, southeast Moor , 2 ◦ 56.1 ′ S, 135 ◦ 44.9 ′ E; depth 12 m collected E. Turak 15 February 2006 ; G60712 Indonesia, West Papua, Tridacna Atoll , 2 ◦ 29.7 ′ S, 134 ◦ 59.0 ′ E; depth 25 m collected E. Turak 20 February 2006 .

Other material. MTQ 60715, -16 Indonesia, West Papua, Nabire, northeast Mamboor , 3 ◦ 4.3 ′ S, 135 ◦ 36.2 ′ E; depth 9–34 m collected L. DeVantier 16 February 2006 .

Etymology

Named for its superficial resemblance to plating species of Montipora , because of immersed corallites, small corallite size and extensive coenosteum.

Diagnosis

Colony indeterminate in growth, with numerous thin plates given off in an irregular fashion. Most of undersurface is covered by epitheca. Corallite diameters: outer 1.00–2.00 mm; inner 0.99–1.50 mm; primary and secondary septa present as narrow laminae to <1 / 4R; pseudo-columella present. Small projecting branchlets may be developed on the plates. Coenosteum reticulate and flaky, with evenly distributed elaborate spinules.

Skeletal characteristics

Holotype. Part of colony, thin plate 155 mm greatest width by 90 mm, with corallites only on upper surface; an additional 10 pieces of corallum, 13–63 mm width, are included with holotype. Epitheca covers lower surface to within 15 mm of edge. Corallites immersed to sub-immersed, diameters: outer 1.22–1.71 mm; inner 0.99– 1.37 mm; six primary and six secondary septa present, as narrow laminae to <1 / 4R; in some corallites, primary septa can be seen meeting to form a loose pseudo-columella. Coenosteum reticulate and flaky, with evenly distributed elaborate spinules. Upper surface shows presence of abundant worm tubes just below the coenosteum, and has a small number of small protrusions bearing two or three corallites.

Variations shown in paratype. Upper surface of paratype has small projecting branchlets to just under 10 mm long, given off irregularly at an angle to the surface: these have up to 10 corallites.

Field characteristics

Colour pale green to brown or grey, colonies spreading to around 2 m diameter.

Habitat

Mid to lower reef slope on fringing reefs.

Distribution

To date, recorded from Cenderawasih Bay only; see Figure 1 .

Figures

Figure 1. Map of Cenderawasih Bay, West Papua, showing locations for new Astreopora species. Symbols: triangles, Astreopora cenderawasih; squares, Astreopora acroporina; circles, Astreopora montiporina; (see Turak and DeVantier, forthcoming, for locations of all sample sites).

Figure 2. Field appearance of the three new Astreopora species in Cenderawasih Bay, West Papua. (A) Astreopora cenderawasih; (B) Astreopora acroporina; (C) Astreopora montiporina.

Figure 5. Astreopora montiporina sp. nov. (A, B, E, F) Holotype MTQ G60711; (C, D) paratype MTQ G60712. (A, C) Whole specimen; (B, D) close up of plate surface; (E, F) scanning electron micrographs showing corallites and coenosteum spinules. Scale bars: A–C: 10 mm; D: 5 mm; E: 500 µm; F: 100 µm.