Morphological and Molecular Characterization of Five Species Including Three New Species of Golden Gorgonians (Cnidaria: Octocorallia) from Seamounts in the Western Pacific
Members of genus <i>Iridogorgia</i> Verrill, 1883 are the typical deep-sea megabenthos with only seven species reported. Based on an integrated morphological-molecular approach, eight sampled specimens of <i>Iridogorgia</i> from seamounts in the tropical Western Pacific are i...
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MDPI AG
2021-06-01
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/10/7/588 |
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| author | Yu Xu Zifeng Zhan Kuidong Xu |
| author_facet | Yu Xu Zifeng Zhan Kuidong Xu |
| author_sort | Yu Xu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Members of genus <i>Iridogorgia</i> Verrill, 1883 are the typical deep-sea megabenthos with only seven species reported. Based on an integrated morphological-molecular approach, eight sampled specimens of <i>Iridogorgia</i> from seamounts in the tropical Western Pacific are identified as three new species, and two known species <i>I. magnispiralis</i> Watling, 2007 and <i>I. densispicula</i> Xu, Zhan, Li and Xu, 2020. <i>Iridogorgia flexilis</i> sp. nov. is unique in having a very broad polyp body base with stout and thick scales. <i>Iridogorgia densispiralis</i> sp. nov. can be distinguished by rods present in both polyps and coenenchyme, and <i>I. verrucosa</i> sp. nov. is characterized by having numerous verrucae in coenenchyme and irregular spindles and scales in the polyp body wall. Phylogenetic analysis based on the nuclear 28S rDNA indicated that <i>I. densispiralis</i> sp. nov. showed close relationships with <i>I. splendens</i> Watling, 2007 and <i>I. verrucosa</i> sp. nov., and <i>I. flexilis</i> sp. nov. formed a sister clade with <i>I. magnispiralis</i>. In addition, due to <i>Rhodaniridogorgia fragilis</i> Watling, 2007 nested into the <i>Iridogorgia</i> clade in mtMutS-COI trees and shared highly similar morphology to the latter, we propose to eliminate the genus <i>Rhodaniridogorgia</i> by establishing a new combination <i>Iridogorgia fragilis</i> (Watling, 2007) comb. nov. and resurrecting <i>I. superba</i> Nutting, 1908. |
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| spelling | doaj.art-844418b4c8be48b995df50ec723b28e52023-12-03T13:08:16ZengMDPI AGBiology2079-77372021-06-0110758810.3390/biology10070588Morphological and Molecular Characterization of Five Species Including Three New Species of Golden Gorgonians (Cnidaria: Octocorallia) from Seamounts in the Western PacificYu Xu0Zifeng Zhan1Kuidong Xu2Laboratory of Marine Organism Taxonomy and Phylogeny, Shandong Province Key Laboratory of Experimental Marine Biology, Center for Ocean Mega-Science, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266071, ChinaLaboratory of Marine Organism Taxonomy and Phylogeny, Shandong Province Key Laboratory of Experimental Marine Biology, Center for Ocean Mega-Science, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266071, ChinaLaboratory of Marine Organism Taxonomy and Phylogeny, Shandong Province Key Laboratory of Experimental Marine Biology, Center for Ocean Mega-Science, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266071, ChinaMembers of genus <i>Iridogorgia</i> Verrill, 1883 are the typical deep-sea megabenthos with only seven species reported. Based on an integrated morphological-molecular approach, eight sampled specimens of <i>Iridogorgia</i> from seamounts in the tropical Western Pacific are identified as three new species, and two known species <i>I. magnispiralis</i> Watling, 2007 and <i>I. densispicula</i> Xu, Zhan, Li and Xu, 2020. <i>Iridogorgia flexilis</i> sp. nov. is unique in having a very broad polyp body base with stout and thick scales. <i>Iridogorgia densispiralis</i> sp. nov. can be distinguished by rods present in both polyps and coenenchyme, and <i>I. verrucosa</i> sp. nov. is characterized by having numerous verrucae in coenenchyme and irregular spindles and scales in the polyp body wall. Phylogenetic analysis based on the nuclear 28S rDNA indicated that <i>I. densispiralis</i> sp. nov. showed close relationships with <i>I. splendens</i> Watling, 2007 and <i>I. verrucosa</i> sp. nov., and <i>I. flexilis</i> sp. nov. formed a sister clade with <i>I. magnispiralis</i>. In addition, due to <i>Rhodaniridogorgia fragilis</i> Watling, 2007 nested into the <i>Iridogorgia</i> clade in mtMutS-COI trees and shared highly similar morphology to the latter, we propose to eliminate the genus <i>Rhodaniridogorgia</i> by establishing a new combination <i>Iridogorgia fragilis</i> (Watling, 2007) comb. nov. and resurrecting <i>I. superba</i> Nutting, 1908.https://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/10/7/588AnthozoaChrysogorgiidae<i>Iridogorgia flexilis</i><i>Iridogorgia verrucosa</i><i>Iridogorgia densispiralis</i>taxonomy |
| spellingShingle | Yu Xu Zifeng Zhan Kuidong Xu Morphological and Molecular Characterization of Five Species Including Three New Species of Golden Gorgonians (Cnidaria: Octocorallia) from Seamounts in the Western Pacific Biology Anthozoa Chrysogorgiidae <i>Iridogorgia flexilis</i> <i>Iridogorgia verrucosa</i> <i>Iridogorgia densispiralis</i> taxonomy |
| title | Morphological and Molecular Characterization of Five Species Including Three New Species of Golden Gorgonians (Cnidaria: Octocorallia) from Seamounts in the Western Pacific |
| title_full | Morphological and Molecular Characterization of Five Species Including Three New Species of Golden Gorgonians (Cnidaria: Octocorallia) from Seamounts in the Western Pacific |
| title_fullStr | Morphological and Molecular Characterization of Five Species Including Three New Species of Golden Gorgonians (Cnidaria: Octocorallia) from Seamounts in the Western Pacific |
| title_full_unstemmed | Morphological and Molecular Characterization of Five Species Including Three New Species of Golden Gorgonians (Cnidaria: Octocorallia) from Seamounts in the Western Pacific |
| title_short | Morphological and Molecular Characterization of Five Species Including Three New Species of Golden Gorgonians (Cnidaria: Octocorallia) from Seamounts in the Western Pacific |
| title_sort | morphological and molecular characterization of five species including three new species of golden gorgonians cnidaria octocorallia from seamounts in the western pacific |
| topic | Anthozoa Chrysogorgiidae <i>Iridogorgia flexilis</i> <i>Iridogorgia verrucosa</i> <i>Iridogorgia densispiralis</i> taxonomy |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/10/7/588 |
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