Description of two new genera and two new species of antipatharian corals in the family Aphanipathidae (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Antipatharia) Author Opresko, Dennis M. National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA. Author Bo, Marzia 0000-0001-8400-6722 Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, dell’Ambiente e della Vita, Università degli Studi di Genova, Genova, Italy. marzia. bo @ unige. it; https: // orcid. org / 0000 - 0001 - 8400 - 6722 marzia.bo@unige.it Author Stein, David P. 0000-0003-2762-924X Ocean Genome Legacy Center, Northeastern University, Nahant, MA, USA. & david. stein @ lathropgpm. com; http: // orcid. org / 0000 - 0003 - 2762 - 924 X david.stein@lathropgpm.com Author Evankow, Ann National History Museum, University of Oslo, P. O. Box 1172 Blindern, 0318 Oslo, Norway. Author Distel, Daniel L. 0000-0002-3860-194X Ocean Genome Legacy Center, Northeastern University, Nahant, MA, USA. & d. distel @ northeastern. edu; https: // orcid. org / 0000 - 0002 - 3860 - 194 X d.distel@northeastern.edu Author Brugler, Mercer R. 0000-0003-3676-1226 Department of Natural Sciences, University of South Carolina Beaufort, 801 Carteret Street, Beaufort, SC 29902, USA. mbrugler @ uscb. edu; https: // orcid. org / 0000 - 0003 - 3676 - 1226 & Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79 Street, New York, NY 10024 USA. * Co-corresponding authors mbrugler@uscb.edu text Zootaxa 2021 2021-05-03 4966 2 161 174 journal article 6532 10.11646/zootaxa.4966.2.4 1322b578-84ee-418e-963a-c0327462188c 1175-5326 4736449 E4C6A17A-D590-4C0C-A66D-4C30ECAFF9AA Anozopathes palauensis sp. nov. Opresko & Brugler ( Fig. 4 ) Material examined. Holotype : USNM 1007104 ( SEM stub 260), Palau , off Koror , 7.2735ºN , 134.524ºE , Coral Reef Research Foundation, sta. Mutremdiu 2, 192 m , coll. P. Colin , 28 March 2001 . Type locality. Palau , off Koror , 192 m . Diagnosis. Colony small, very sparsely branched to the second order, with long curved branches disposed irregularly on all sides of the stem but curving upward. Branch angles usually close to 90º. Spines up to about 0.14 mm tall, 0.5 mm apart, with 3 spines per mm in each row. Polyps about 2 mm in transverse diameter, arranged in a single series, with four to five polyps per cm. Description of holotype . The holotype ( Fig. 4A ) is about 16 cm tall, 17 cm wide and has a basal stem diameter of about 2 mm . The main stem is 14 cm long and slightly curved. The branching is very sparse, and mostly to the first order and rarely to the second order. Most of the branches originate from the lower half of the stem. The branches are long, and although the distal branch angles are close to 90º, most branches are curved upward. The longest branch is about 13.7 cm long and about 1.3 mm in diameter near its connection to the stem. The branches are spaced varying distances apart, with as many as four occurring along 3 cm of the stem. The spines ( Fig. 4C–D ) are relatively short, cone-shaped in lateral view, but compressed laterally, with a long shallow-sloped proximal edge, and with a few conical tubercles near the apex. On a branch 0.38 mm in diameter the polypar spines reach a maximum size of about 0.14 mm (as measured from middle of base to apex), and the abpolypar spines are 0.11 mm . Six longitudinal rows of spines can be seen in one lateral view (excluding rows in which the spines are only partially visible). Within each row the spines are about 0.5 mm apart, resulting in three per mm. The cone-shaped tubercles near the apex of the spines are 0.005 to 0.007 mm tall. The number of tubercles varies from spine to spine and the greatest number occur on the polypar spines; most of the abpolypar spines lack tubercles or just have one or two visible in lateral view. On the polypar spines a maximum of about eight tubercles can be seen in lateral view (including those on the edges and seen in profile). On the lower part of a branch (diameter 1.2 mm ) the spines are 0.15–0.16 mm tall, more conical, and narrower than those on upper part of the branches, and tubercles are not present. The polyps ( Fig. 4B ) are arranged in a single row. In the preserved state most polyps measure about 2 mm in transverse diameter. The interpolypar space is generally less than 1 mm , and there are 4 to 5 polyps per cm. Comparisons. This species is related to Anozopathes hawaiiensis in the general morphology of the corallum. It differs from that species in having straighter, stiffer branches; smaller spines ( 0.14 mm vs. 0.25 mm ) with a much shallower slope along the lower proximal edge; and slightly more tubercles per spine as seen in lateral view (up to about 8 vs. up to about 6). Etymology. The species name is based on the type locality. Distribution. Known only from Palau , 192 m