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 Author Ramvilas, Ghosh 0000-0001-5028-9058 ramvilas@kufos.ac.in Author Alderslade, Philip 0000-0001-5801-4681 phil.alderslade@csiro.au Author Ranjeet, Kutty 0000-0001-5028-9058 ramvilas@kufos.ac.in text Zootaxa 2023 2023-02-07 5236 1 1 124 journal article 54753 10.11646/zootaxa.5236.1.1 64c50077-1b03-44c5-9af9-0dac9180d62d 1175-5326 7639327 796FF9F5-E71F-4C69-92CC-CF4D6752BD77 Villogorgia tenuis ( Thomson & Simpson, 1909 ) Acamptogorgia tenuis Thomson & Simpson, 1909: 230–232 , pl. 3, fig. 4&8; pl.8, fig. 7 (Andamans). Opinion: This species does occur in the region but its true identity is unknown. Justification: These Indian records seem to be either invalid or unconfirmable : Fernando 2011: 55 , pl.32, fig. 1–1e (Cuddalore); Kumar et al . 2014a: 88 , pl. 41, fig A–E (Guitor Island, Middle Andaman); Fernando et al . 2017: 117 , pl. 53, fig. 1–1e (Cuddalore). Literature analysis : The species was originally described as Acamptogorgia tenuis from the Andamans with illustrations of a reticulate colony and a few sclerites, and at present most of the characteristics of the species are unknown. A non-reticulate colony from Providence Island (then part of Mauritius ) was later illustrated and assigned to this species by Thomson & Russell (1910) , and Kükenthal (1924) included the species when dealing with taxa he grouped as Echinomuricea , but only as an uncertain identification. Kumar et al . (2014a) record material as Villogorgia tenuis erroneously citing the authorship as “( Nutting, 1908 )” and the prime reference as Thomson & Henderson (1909). Their colony does not have the growth form of a Villogorgia and there are no characteristic Villogorgia sclerites in their figure despite describing them in their text. In their identical accounts, Fernando (2011) and Fernando et al . (2017) attributed material to this species but it appears quite a different species. These authors record the calicular thorn scales as having an apparently foliaceous projection 0.12–0.2 mm long, while those of Thomson & Simpson’s specimen have a spine-like projection only 0.025–0.5 mm in length. They also figure one of the typical forms of a Villogorgia coenenchymal sclerite that has a complex foliaceous upper portion and 3–4 root-like legs, a form that is not mentioned in Thomson & Simpson’s account. Similar to their description of Villogorgia ceylonensis , Fernando (2011) and Fernando et al. (2017) mistakenly cite an occurrence in Bayer 1981 as a synonym. That publication is a key in which the species is not mentioned. Bayer only illustrated a typical thornscale from the genera Acamptogorgia , Brandella and Perisceles , which are all synonyms of Villogorgia . Rao & Devi (2003) just list the species under the original name, and Kumar et al. (2015 , 2018 ) list the species and figure the specimen from their 2014 paper.