Skip to main content

A gorgonian Nanji sea plume (Pseudopterogorgia nanjiensis) from subtidal zone of Nanji Islands

A gorgonian Nanji sea plume (Pseudopterogorgia nanjiensis) in subtidal zone of Nanji Islands

NEWS - During a benthic biodiversity expedition in the subtidal zone of the Nanji Islands in the East China Sea, researchers identified two specimens of Pseudopterogorgia as new species based on morphology and molecular features. Nanji sea plume (Pseudopterogorgia nanjiensis) most closely resembles P. fredericki in its irregular branching shape and unclear scaphoid.

Molecular phylogenetic analysis, based on mtMutS-COI gene sequences, delineated a monophyletic clade that includes all species of Pseudopterogorgia. Within this clade, P. nanjiensis shows close phylogenetic affinity to P. fredericki Williams & Vennam 2001 and P. australiensis Ridley 1884.

Members of the genus Pseudopterogorgia Kükenthal 1919 are widely distributed in shallow waters of the Indo-West Pacific. The location of P. nanjiensis is in the intertidal zone of the Nanji Islands with a water depth of 14 meters. This species is named based on the type location of the Nanji Islands and the colonies attached to rocky substrates with a water temperature of 18C and pH 8.13.

The genus Pseudopterogorgia is characterized by a pinnate or irregular branching structure, the absence of anastomoses and C-shaped or scaphoid-like sclerites present in the coenenchyma. Based on the branching structure and sclerite shape, this specimen is undoubtedly included in this genus.

P. nanjiensis, P. fredericki and P. australiensis are characterized by the absence of anastomoses and the presence of scaphoid-like sclerites in the coenenchyma. However, P. nanjiensis can be distinguished from P. fredericki based on sclerite morphology and is easily distinguished from P. australiensis based on irregular branching shape.

The addition of the new species P. nanjiensis found in the Nanji Islands, so there are currently a total of 8 valid species in Pseudopterogorgia. The precise phylogenetic placement of the genus Pseudopterogorgia remains essentially equivocal, mainly due to the low support values assigned to the corresponding nodes in the mtMutS-COI tree.

The 28S rDNA tree shows high support values for most internal branches, but the systematic position of Pseudopterogorgia remains unresolved. This uncertainty arises from the inclusion of sequences representing only 7 of the total 13 genera currently recognized within Gorgoniidae and is further compounded by the fact that many of these genera show polyphyletic or paraphyletic relationships.

The authors therefore suggest the need for further genomic data to achieve greater resolution. Such data should include a more complete collection of 28S rDNA sequences and potentially include highly conserved elements plus exons (UCE+exons).

Original research

Sun T, Xu Y, Xu K, Chen S, Xie S, Zhan Z (2024). A new gorgonian Pseudopterogorgia nanjiensis sp. nov. (Cnidaria, Octocorallia, Gorgoniidae) from the Nanji Islands, China. ZooKeys 1213: 237-249, DOI:10.3897/zookeys.1213.126841

Dlium theDlium
Labels:

Popular Posts

Kunu buti (Mesosphaerum suaveolens)

Kunu buti ( Mesosphaerum suaveolens ) is a species of plant in the Lamiaceae family. It is an erect, herbaceous annual, growing up to 1.5 meters tall. Its cylindrical, rough, brown or green stem is hairy and white. It grows on forest floors, bushes, agricultural fields, and roadsides. Its roots are fibrous and brownish-yellow. M. suaveolens has single, opposite leaves, stalks 2-5 cm long and hairy. The leaf blades are green, hairy, oval, with pointed tips, blunt bases, serrated edges, up to 6 cm long, up to 5 cm wide, and pinnate veins. The flowers are compound, axillary, in clusters, perfect, and bisexual. The petals are attached, forming a tube, each tip elongated like a spine, soft, 3-10 mm long, and green. The corolla is attached, asymmetrically detached, 1-2 cm long, and purple. The fruit is single, hard, capsule-shaped, hairy on the surface, and green or brown in color. The seeds are round, small and blackish brown in color. TAXON Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphyl...
Read more

Fern tree (Filicium decipiens)

Kerai payung or fern tree ( Filicium decipiens ) is a plant species in Sapindaceae, a tree that is always green with thick and round canopies such as umbrellas, 5-10 m high but old specimens in nature can exceed 25 m, upright stems, gray bark ash to reddish brown, smooth when young but rough and cracked when mature. F. decipiens has large, fern-like and conspicuous leaves, up to 40 cm long and made of elongated longitudinal, glossy green leaflets arranged in pairs. Leaves on stems with a length of 3-10 cm, alternating, imparipinnat, 15-30 cm long and 12-15 cm wide. Winged rachis with 6-12 pairs of opposite or sub-opposite leaflets, sessile, oblong-lanceolate with full margins and slightly wavy, 6-12 cm long and 1-3 cm wide, coriaceous, dark green and glossy above. Flowers grow on stems with a length of 7 cm as panicles for lengths of 15-30 cm which carry many small, unisexual flowers and hermaphrodites with a diameter of 0.4-0.6 cm. Pentaparted petals with imbricate ovate lobes, fi...
Read more

Cockspur coral tree (Erythrina crista-galli)

Velvet coral tree or cockspur coral tree ( Erythrina crista-galli ) is a species of plant in the Fabaceae family. It is a small tree, 5-8 meters tall, with a trunk circumference of about 50 cm, irregular branches, light wood, and fissured, soft, and light brown bark. The taproot is white. The leaves are ovate, with three strands, dark green and glossy on the upper surface, and pale green on the underside. The central lobe is up to 17 cm long and up to 11 cm wide. The left and right lobes are up to 15 cm long and up to 10 cm wide. The flowers are red, arranged in racemes, at the apex, pentameric, complete, and bilaterally symmetrical. The flowers are up to 6 cm long and 4 cm wide. The pods are long, containing about 8 seeds, green when young and turning brown as they mature. The seeds are ovate, flat, and brown. It grows well in lowlands up to an elevation of 1,500 meters, with an annual rainfall of 800-1,500 mm/year, and a temperature of 20-32°C. It thrives in well-drained soils, but...
Read more