Register      Login
Invertebrate Systematics Invertebrate Systematics Society
Systematics, phylogeny and biogeography
RESEARCH ARTICLE

A new family and two new genera of calcaxonian octocoral, including a redescription of Pleurogorgia militaris (Cnidaria : Octocorallia : Chrysogorgiidae) and its placement in a new genus

Stephen D. Cairns https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7209-9271 A F , Ralf T. S. Cordeiro https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3164-5333 A B , Yu Xu C D , Zifeng Zhan D and Philip Alderslade E
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Department of Invertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, PO Box 37012, Washington, DC 20013-7012, USA.

B Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Rua Dom Manuel de Medeiros, s/n, Dois Irmãos, Recife, PE 52171-900, Brazil.

C University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, PR China.

D Laboratory of Marine Organism Taxonomy and Phylogeny, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, 266071, PR China.

E CSIRO Oceans & Atmosphere, Castray Esplanade, Hobart, Tas. 7001, Australia.

F Corresponding author. Email: cairnss@si.edu

Invertebrate Systematics 35(3) 282-297 https://doi.org/10.1071/IS20066
Submitted: 22 August 2020  Accepted: 23 November 2020   Published: 24 March 2021

Abstract

Golden corals (chrysogorgiids sensu lato) are conspicuous components in deep-sea gorgonian assemblages. Although common, their taxonomy still conflicts with evolutionary histories, mostly due to low character availability and poor taxonomic knowledge. This is the case for the genus Pleurogorgia, which has been frequently reported in ROV surveys, dominating hard-bottoms throughout the Indo-Pacific. Herein, molecular phylogenetic reconstructions based on mitochondrial and nuclear datasets, and examination of new and old type material led us to suggest new systematic arrangements for some of the genera. We create a new genus, Ramuligorgia, to accommodate Pleurogorgia militaris, redescribing it as Ramuligorgia militaris comb. nov. within the family Chrysogorgiidae sensu stricto. Additionally, we describe Aurogorgia tasmaniensis gen. nov. et sp. nov., including it and the type species, Pleurogorgia plana, within Pleurogorgiidae fam. nov.

Keywords: Aurogorgia, Pleurogorgiidae, phylogeny, Ramuligorgia, taxonomy.


References

Alderslade, P., Althaus, F., Mcennulty, F., Gowlett-Holmes, K., and Williams, A. (2014). Australia’s deep-water octocoral fauna: historical account and checklist, distributions and regional affinities of recent collections. Zootaxa 3796, 435–452.
Australia’s deep-water octocoral fauna: historical account and checklist, distributions and regional affinities of recent collections.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Alfaro, M. E., Zoller, S., and Lutzoni, F. (2003). Bayes or Bootstrap? A simulation study comparing the performance of Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo sampling and bootstrapping in assessing phylogenetic confidence. Molecular Biology and Evolution 20, 255–266.
Bayes or Bootstrap? A simulation study comparing the performance of Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo sampling and bootstrapping in assessing phylogenetic confidence.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 12598693PubMed |

Bayer, F. M. (1949). Chalcogorgiinae, a new subfamily of Chrysogorgiidae (Coelenterata: Alcyonaria), and a description of Chalcogorgia pellucida, new genus and new species, from the Straits of Florida. Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences 39, 237–240.

Bayer, F. M., Grasshoff, M., and Verseveldt, J. (1983). Illustrated trilingual glossary of morphological and anatomical terms applied to Octocorallia. (E. J. Brill/Dr. W. Backhuys: Leiden, Netherlands.) Available at https://repository.si.edu/handle/10088/6237

Cairns, S. D. (2001). Studies on western Atlantic Octocorallia (Coelenterata: Anthozoa). Part 1: the genus Chrysogorgia Duchassaing & Michelloti, 1864. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 114, 746–787.

Cairns, S. D. (2007). Calcaxonian octocorals (Cnidaria; Anthozoa) from eastern Pacific seamounts. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 58, 511–541.

Cairns, S. D., and Cordeiro, R. T. S. (2017). A new genus and species of golden coral (Anthozoa, Octocorallia, Chrysogorgiidae) from the Northwest Atlantic. ZooKeys 668, 1–10.
A new genus and species of golden coral (Anthozoa, Octocorallia, Chrysogorgiidae) from the Northwest Atlantic.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Cordeiro, R. T. S. (2019). A review of the genus Trichogorgia (Cnidaria, Octocorallia), including descriptions of new species. Zootaxa 4706, 517–530.
A review of the genus Trichogorgia (Cnidaria, Octocorallia), including descriptions of new species.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Cordeiro, R. T. S., Cairns, S. D., and Pérez, C. D. (2017). A revision of the genus Radicipes Stearns, 1883 (Anthozoa: Octocorallia: Chrysogorgiidae). Zootaxa 4319, 1–26.
A revision of the genus Radicipes Stearns, 1883 (Anthozoa: Octocorallia: Chrysogorgiidae).Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Guindon, S., Dufayard, J. F., Lefort, V., Anisimova, M., Hordijk, W., and Gascuel, O. (2010). New algorithms and methods to estimate maximum-likelihood phylogenies: assessing the performance of PhyML 3.0. Systematic Biology 59, 307–321.
New algorithms and methods to estimate maximum-likelihood phylogenies: assessing the performance of PhyML 3.0.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 20525638PubMed |

Hall, T. A. (1999). BioEdit: a user-friendly biological sequence alignment editor and analysis program for Windows 95/98/NT. Nucleic Acids Symposium Series 41, 95–98.
BioEdit: a user-friendly biological sequence alignment editor and analysis program for Windows 95/98/NT.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Hillis, D. M., and Bull, J. J. (1993). An empirical test of bootstrapping as a method for assessing confidence in phylogenetic analysis. Systematic Biology 42, 182–192.
An empirical test of bootstrapping as a method for assessing confidence in phylogenetic analysis.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Katoh, K., and Standley, D. M. (2013). MAFFT multiple sequence alignment software version 7: improvements in performance and usability. Molecular Biology and Evolution 30, 772–780.
MAFFT multiple sequence alignment software version 7: improvements in performance and usability.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 23329690PubMed |

Lefort, V., Longueville, J.-E., and Gascuel, O. (2017). SMS: Smart Model Selection in PhyML. Molecular Biology and Evolution 34, 2422–2424.
SMS: Smart Model Selection in PhyML.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 28472384PubMed |

López-González, P. J. (2020). A new calcaxonian genus and family for Trichogorgia utinomii Cordeiro, 2019 (Octocorallia, Alcyonacea): new records of a scleriteless gorgonian species from Antarctica. Marine Biodiversity 50, 96.
A new calcaxonian genus and family for Trichogorgia utinomii Cordeiro, 2019 (Octocorallia, Alcyonacea): new records of a scleriteless gorgonian species from Antarctica.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

McFadden, C. S., France, S. C., Sanchez, J. A., and Alderslade, P. (2006). A molecular phylogenetic analysis of the Octocorallia (Cnidaria: Anthozoa) based on mitochondrial protein-coding sequences. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 41, 513–527.
A molecular phylogenetic analysis of the Octocorallia (Cnidaria: Anthozoa) based on mitochondrial protein-coding sequences.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 16876445PubMed |

McFadden, C. S., Sánchez, J. A., and France, S. C. (2010). Molecular phylogenetic insights into the evolution of Octocorallia: a review. Integrative and Comparative Biology 50, 389–410.
Molecular phylogenetic insights into the evolution of Octocorallia: a review.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 21558211PubMed |

Nutting, C. C. (1908). Descriptions of the Alcyonaria collected by the US Bureau of Fisheries steamer Albatross in the vicinity of the Hawaiian Islands in 1902. Proceedings of the United States National Museum 34, 543–601.
Descriptions of the Alcyonaria collected by the US Bureau of Fisheries steamer Albatross in the vicinity of the Hawaiian Islands in 1902.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Pante, E., and Watling, L. (2012). Chrysogorgia from the New England and Corner Seamounts: Atlantic–Pacific connections. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 92, 911–927.
Chrysogorgia from the New England and Corner Seamounts: Atlantic–Pacific connections.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Pante, E., France, S., Couloux, A., Cruaud, C., McFadden, C. S., Samadi, S., and Watling, L. (2012). Deep-sea origin and in-situ diversification of chrysogorgiid octocorals. PLoS One 7, e38357.
Deep-sea origin and in-situ diversification of chrysogorgiid octocorals.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 23300636PubMed |

Pante, E., Saucier, E. H., and France, S. C. (2013). Molecular and morphological data support reclassification of the octocoral genus Isidoides. Invertebrate Systematics 27, 365–378.
Molecular and morphological data support reclassification of the octocoral genus Isidoides.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Parrish, F. A., and Baco, A. R. (2007). State of deep coral ecosystems in the United States Western Pacific region: Hawaii and the United States Pacific islands. In ‘The State of Deep Coral Ecosystems of the United States’. (Eds S. E. Lumsden, T. F. Hourigan, A. W. Bruckner, and G. Dorr.) NOAA Technical Memorandum CRCP-3, Chapter 4, pp. 155–194. (NOAA: Silver Spring, MD, USA.)

Parrish, F. A., Baco-Taylor, A. R., Kelley, C., Cairns, S. D., and Hourigan, T. F. (2017). Deep-sea coral taxa in the Hawaiian Archipelago and other US Pacific islands: depth and geographical distribution. (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service Office of Habitat Conservation.) Available at https://deepseacoraldata.noaa.gov/library/2015-state-of-dsc-report-folder/NOAA_DSC-Species-List_PacificIslands_Parrish-etal_2017.pdf [Verified 21 January 2021].

Quattrini, A. M., Rodríguez, E., Faircloth, B. C., Cowman, P. F., Brugler, M. R., Farfan, G. A., Hellberg, M. E., Kitahara, M. V., Morrison, C. L., Paz-García, D. A., Reimer, J. D., and McFadden, C. S. (2020). Palaeoclimate ocean conditions shaped the evolution of corals and their skeletons through deep time. Nature Ecology & Evolution 4, 1531–1538.
Palaeoclimate ocean conditions shaped the evolution of corals and their skeletons through deep time.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Ronquist, F. R., and Huelsenbeck, J. P. (2003). Mrbayes 3: Bayesian phylogenetic inference under mixed models. Bioinformatics 19, 1572–1574.
Mrbayes 3: Bayesian phylogenetic inference under mixed models.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Tamura, K., Stecher, G., Peterson, D., Filipski, A., and Kumar, S. (2013). MEGA6: molecular evolutionary genetics analysis version 6.0. Molecular Biology and Evolution 30, 2725–2729.
MEGA6: molecular evolutionary genetics analysis version 6.0.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 24132122PubMed |

Thresher, R., Althaus, F., Adkins, J., Gowlett-Holmes, K., Alderslade, P., Dowdney, J., Cho, W., Gagnon, A., Staples, D., McEnnulty, F., and Williams, A. (2014). Strong depth-related zonation of megabenthos on a rocky continental margin (~700–4000 m) off southern Tasmania, Australia. PLoS One 9, e85872.
Strong depth-related zonation of megabenthos on a rocky continental margin (~700–4000 m) off southern Tasmania, Australia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 24465758PubMed |

Watling, L., France, S., Pante, E., and Simpson, A. (2011). Biology of deep-water octocorals. In ‘Advances in Marine Biology’. (Ed. M. Lesser.) pp. 41–122. (Elsevier Academic Press: London, UK.)

Williams, G. C. (1992). The Alcyonacea of southern Africa. Gorgonian octocorals (Coelenterata, Anthozoa). Annals of the South African Museum 101, 181–296.

Xu, Y., Zhan, Z. F., and Xu, K. D. (2020). Morphology and phylogenetic analysis of two new species of deep-sea golden gorgonians (Cnidaria: Octocorallia: Chrysogorgiidae) from seamounts in the Western Pacific Ocean. Zootaxa 4731, 249–262.
Morphology and phylogenetic analysis of two new species of deep-sea golden gorgonians (Cnidaria: Octocorallia: Chrysogorgiidae) from seamounts in the Western Pacific Ocean.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |