New species of deep-sea Antipatharians from the North Pacific (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Antipatharia), Part 2
Author
Opresko, Dennis M.
0000-0001-9946-1533
Department of Invertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560, USA. dmopresko @ hotmail. com; https: // orcid. org / 0000 - 0001 - 9946 - 1533
dmopresko@hotmail.com
Author
Molodtsova, Tina N.
P. P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, RAS, 36 Nakhimovsky prospect, Moscow 117997, Russia
text
Zootaxa
2021
2021-07-14
4999
5
401
422
journal article
10.11646/zootaxa.4999.5.1
1175-5326
5119429
C5BC0813-D7ED-4192-A726-7560C1BC28DC
Bathypathes tiburonae
n. sp.
(
Fig. 4
)
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:
8901BBD9-21F8-4C8A-B266-2207CBF942C0
Material examined.
Holotype
:
USNM 1116837 (
SEM
stub 251),
North Pacific
, off
California
,
Gorda Transform
,
41.6688ºN
,
127.3090ºW
, R/
V
Western Flyer
,
ROV
Tiburon
,
Dive
193,
Sample No.
W-193-A1,
3121.2 m
,
MBARI
,
1 Mar 2006
.
Paratype
:
USNM 1234549,
North Pacific
,
Gorda Ridge
, off
Oregon
,
42.6690ºN
,
126.7850ºW
, R/
V
Western Flyer
,
ROV
Tiburon
,
Dive
886,
Sample No. T
886 A7,
3150.2 m
,
MBARI
,
25 Aug 2005
.
Other material
:
USNM 1459868,
North Pacific
,
Gulf
of
Alaska
,
53.2911°N
,
164.0460°W
,
ROV
Jason
II, Dive
87 (Field Identification Number: JD-087),
3356 m
, coll.
A. Baco-Taylor
,
July 2004
.
Diagnosis
. Colony monopodial and pinnulate; pinnules simple, arranged along the stem in two anterolateral rows and in subopposite pairs. Stem up to
55 cm
in length. Pinnules spaced
10–18 mm
apart (density 4–6 per
3 cm
). Spines simple, smooth, triangular; polypar spines up to
0.09 mm
tall on the pinnules. Polyps uniserially arranged on one side of corallum, up to
12 mm
in transverse diameter on the pinnules, with about three polyps per 4 centimeters.
Description of
holotype
. The
holotype
(USNM 1116837) is about
55 cm
tall and has a maximum width of
30 cm
about
3 cm
above the start of the pinnulated section. The basal stem diameter is
3 mm
at a distance about
3 mm
above the holdfast which is intact (
Fig. 4A
). The unpinnulated portion of the stem is about
37 cm
long; the pinnulated portion covers the remaining
18 cm
. A striatum is present on the stem; it starts
16 cm
above the base and extends for
6 cm
. The pinnules are arranged in subopposite pairs (11 pairs in all), the left pinnule of each pair (viewing the polyp side of the corallum) is inserted on the axis about
3 mm
lower than the subopposite member (as measured from the middle of the pinnules;
1–2 mm
as measured from the nearest edges of the subopposite pinnules) for all but one of the pairs where the arrangement is reversed. Most of the pinnules are broken off at the distal end; the longest pinnule on the corallum is
17 cm
in length and
0.9 mm
in basal diameter; it is in the third pair distal from the most basal ones. The pinnules appear swollen near their proximal end, and the diameter of the central axial canal is more than three-quarters of the width of the pinnule. In each row, the pinnules are spaced about
13–18 mm
apart on the lower section of the corallum and about
13 mm
apart on the upper section. There are two pairs of pinnules per
3 cm
on the lower part of the stem and up to three pairs per
3 cm
on the upper part. The pinnules are inclined slightly, such that the distal angle with the stem is about 80°. The interior angle formed by the two rows of pinnules near their point of origin on the stem is 120° or more. The spines are simple, smooth, triangular, compressed, with a rounded apex (
Fig. 4C
). On pinnules about
0.5 mm
in axial diameter, the polypar spines are
0.06–0.09 mm
tall and the abpolypar spines are
0.05–0.08 mm
. The spines are arranged in rows, usually five of which (rarely six) are visible in one lateral view. Within the rows the spines are spaced irregularly,
0.12–0.52 mm
apart; the spine density is usually around three per millimeter (range 2–4 per mm). In places the spines undergo splitting; eventually forming double spines. Spines occur along low ridges on the proximal, thicker part of the pinnules. The polyps (
Fig. 4B
) are uniserially arranged on one side of the stem and on the same side of the pinnules. The polyps on the pinnules are mostly
9–12 mm
in transverse diameter as measured from the distal edge of the distal lateral tentacles to the proximal edge of the proximal lateral tentacles; the interpolypar space is
2–3 mm
, and there are three polyps per
4 cm
or four to five polyps in
5 cm
. The polyps on the stem are up to
1.7 cm
in transverse diameter, with two polyps per
4 cm
.
Description of
paratype
and other material
. The
paratype
(USNM 1234549) is similar to the
holotype
in having subopposite pinnules, large polyps, relatively long pinnules, and moderately large polypar spines. It consists only of the upper
7 cm
of a colony (with the growing tip intact) with the equivalent of five pairs of pinnules (several pinnules are missing on one side of the stem). The length and thickness of the pinnules (
18–24 cm
and
0.8 mm
in basal diameter) are similar to those of the
holotype
. Based on the length of pinnules of the fragment collected, the length of the unpinnulated stalk can be estimated to be
25-30 cm
; however, in contrast to the
holotype
, the complete colony, as could be seen in an
in situ
photo, had a longer pinnulated section with at least 17 pairs of pinnules. The axial canal is about two-thirds the width of the pinnule near the distal end, but is not visible at the lower basal part of the pinnule. The subopposite pinnules are offset by about
1.5 mm
. The spacing of the pinnules in each lateral row of the collected fragment is quite variable,
1–1.7 cm
apart, and there is the equivalent of six pinnules total per
3 cm
. On sections of pinnules
0.5–0.7 mm
in diameter, the polypar spines are
0.07–0.09 mm
tall, and five to seven rows are visible in lateral view. Within each row the mutual distance is very variable (
0.12–0.45 mm
), but, on average, there are 3–4 per mm. The polyps are
10–11 mm
in transverse diameter in the middle of the pinnules, with four polyps occurring along a
4.5 cm
length of pinnule.
USNM 1459868 consists only of a few pinnules; however, the polyps (
9–10 mm
in transverse diameter with 2.5 per
3 cm
) and spines (
0.066–0.08 mm
) are very similar in size to those in the
holotype
.
FIGURE 4.
Bathypathes tiburonae
n. sp.
, holotype, USNM 1116837:
A.
corallum;
B.
polyps;
C.
three sections of pinnules and one section of stem (far right) showing spines; scale bars 0.2 mm except as indicated. (C from SEM stub 251).
Genetic data.
In DNA sequencing studies (
Chery
et al
. 2018
) using the mt gene region
nad5-nad1
, two of the specimens assigned to this species, the
paratype
of
P
.
tiburonae
(USNM 1234549) and USNM 1459868 had identical haplotypes, and this haplotype was different from the haplotype of the
holotype
of
Bathypathes ptiloides
(USNM 1070974). The
holotype
of
Bathypathes tiburonae
(USNM 1116837), however, was not included in the DNA analysis.
Comparisons
.
Bathypathes tiburonae
n. sp.
differs from
B. platycaulus
by its subopposite pinnules, and from
B. bifida
by having more than one pair of pinnules. By its moderately tall pinnular spines (up to
0.09 mm
)
B. tiburonae
differs from
B. erotema
,
B. patula
,
B. plenispina
,
B. ptiloides
n. sp.
and
B. tenuis
(all normally have spines <
0.06 mm
); and also
B. bayeri
(
0.1–0.32 mm
) and
B. galathea
(
0.08–0.2 mm
). It differs from
B. conferta
and the herein described
B. alaskensis
n. sp.
by less densely set pinnules (4–6 vs. 8–12 per
3 cm
) and larger polyps on the pinnules (
9–12 mm
vs.
4–5 mm
in transverse diameter).
Etymology
. Species name “
tiburonae
” is derived from the name of MBARI’s ROV
Tiburon
which was used to collect the
holotype
.
Distribution
. Northeast Pacific, off
California
,
Oregon
and
Alaska
at depths of
3132–3356 m
.