Soft corals, sea fans, gorgonians (Octocorallia: Alcyonacea) and black and wire corals (Ceriantipatharia: Antipatharia) from submarine caves in Hong Kong with a checklist of local species and a description of a new species of Paraminabea
Author
Lam, Katherine
Author
Morton, Brian
text
Journal of Natural History
2008
2008-03-31
42
9 - 12
749
780
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00222930701862708
journal article
10.1080/00222930701862708
1464-5262
4666635
Menella indica
Gray, 1870
(
Figure 3E
)
Menella indica
Gray, 1870:407
Menella indica
Nutting, 1912:86
;
Kükenthal, 1924:184
;
Utinomi, 1958:105
,
1961:211–213
Description
Long, slender, yellowish brown colony with branches which arise from the main stem at right angles and grow upwards. Branches bluntly pointed at the ends. Axis black and wholly horny. Polyps irregularly distributed on all sides of the branch and stem surface and deeply sunk into verrucal cavities. Sclerites in coenenchyme are dagger-shaped, that is, they consist of a short smooth blade and a few thorny basal processes. These polyps are, 0.4×
0.5 mm
. Anthocodial sclerites are shorter,,
0.4 mm
, curved spindles with random spikes on their surfaces. Axis thin and brown.
Type
locality
Back Bay
,
Bombay
, east coast of
India
.
Distribution
Indian Ocean,
Japan
,
Hong Kong
.
Remarks
One specimen (
190 mm
×
80 mm
) was collected from Conic Island Cave. This species is a new record for
Hong Kong
.