Dead man’s fingers point to new taxa: two new genera of New Zealand soft corals (Anthozoa, Octocorallia) and a revision of Alcyonium aurantiacum Quoy & Gaimard, 1833 Author Kessel, Gustav M. BDA5447C-03BF-4994-92E0-7BE0E87EC76 Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, Aotearoa-New Zealand. gustav.kessel@gmail.com Author Alderslade, Philip 93DC2CBE-C14F-4C64-BBD8-D02572886AB0 Oceans and Atmosphere, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. phil.alderslade@csiro.au Author Bilewitch, Jaret P. 38623569-6B57-4D79-AD6C-E4A92762DADD National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research Ltd., Wellington, Aotearoa-New Zealand. jaret.bilewitch@niwa.co.nz Author Schnabel, Kareen E. 90CD9E5D-8E26-4E08-8A5F-3263CBE9D6BD National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research Ltd., Wellington, Aotearoa-New Zealand. kareen.schnabel@niwa.co.nz Author Norman, Jerry 6ABACFAA-E313-414B-A572-425841DD4898 Ngāti Kurī, Tira Me Te Wā, Aotearoa-New Zealand. jerrynorman.rotary@gmail.com Author Potts, Romana Tekaharoa 07A4AADF-0D7C-4092-8319-EAE030A189D9 Ngāti Kurī, Tira Me Te Wā, Aotearoa-New Zealand. & Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, Te Ringa Mauī / Ngāti Kurī / Te Ngaki, Aotearoa-New Zealand. romana.potts@twoa.ac.nz Author Gardner, Jonathan P. A. 9F5C3217-34CD-41E7-9908-2CE2F01D0C6C Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, Aotearoa-New Zealand. jonathan.gardner@vuw.ac.nz text European Journal of Taxonomy 2022 837 1 85 http://zoobank.org/7cbac71f-ff75-411c-9ce9-aa633e16438e journal article 145798 10.5852/ejt.2022.837.1923 d157f752-43b8-4f47-bc6f-65f80c303e89 2118-9773 7084444 7CBAC71F-FF75-411C-9CE9-AA633E16438E Kotatea niwa gen. et sp. nov. urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 21F82707-8C02-4C9E-A4B0-5672E5666601 Figs 1A–B , 2G , 14B , 22–23 Diagnosis Colonies robustly lobate, orange with small red spots, and with white polyps. Collaret and points may be colourless or dark orange to red, and consist of warty, mostly flattened spindles and thorny clubs. Tentacles contain irregular, warty, scale-like sclerites. Polyp neck contains abundant warty rod-like forms. Polyp mounds contain similar sclerites and thorny clubs. Lobe surface contains thorny clubs and warty double-heads. Base surface contains warty radiates grading into double-heads, a few spheroids and tends to lack clubs. Lobe and base interior contains oval or rod-like forms girdled with warts, and highly sculptured spheroids and double-heads. Etymology The species is named for NIWA, the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research in New Zealand , where the research described herein was conducted. Material examined Holotype NEW ZEALAND • Northland , Piwhane / Spirits Bay ; 34.4167° S , 172.7833° E ; depth 17–20 m ; Apr. 1999 ; J. Starmer leg.; MAGNT C015226 . Paratype NEW ZEALAND • 2 specimens ; Manawatāwhi / Three Kings Islands , ~ 1 km NE of Moekawa / South West Island ; 34.1667° S , 172.0833° E ; depth 17 m ; 20 Apr. 1999 ; J. Starmer leg.; MAGNT C015224 . Additional material NEW ZEALAND • 5 specimens ; Northland , Bay of Islands , ~ 1 km NW of Okahu Island ; 35.1917° S , 174.1922° E ; depth 37–40 m ; 3 Sep. 2009 ; Oceans Survey 2020 exped.; stn KAH0907 /194; NIWA 58543 . Description ( holotype MAGNT C015226) Colony form The holotype is a lobate colony, measuring 1.5 cm in height by 2.5 cm width ( Fig. 14B ). The surface of the colony (ethanol-preserved) is orange with small red spots, which are produced by red polyp neck and mound sclerites. Polyps occur all over the colony’s surface but are sparser towards its base and absent from the very short basal section. Polyps are white, 0.5–0.75 mm tall when expanded, with colourless collaret and points ( Fig. 2G ), but see variability section below. Fig. 22. Kotatea niwa gen. et sp. nov. , holotype (MAGNT C015226), SEMs of sclerites. A . Collaret and points. B . Distal points. C . Tentacles. D . Polyp neck. E . Polyp mound. F . Lobe surface. G . Lobe interior. Sclerites Points are composed of warty spindles (~ 0.15–0.25 mm long), most of which are flattened, and thorny clubs distally (~ 0.08–0.22 mm long) ( Fig. 22A–B ). Proximally, the spindles become larger, more robust, and more crescentic (~ 0.2–0.38 mm long), transitioning into a transverse orientation and merging with the collaret ( Fig. 22A ). The number of collaret rows is variable depending on polyp size, but in large polyps this is approximately seven rows ( Fig. 23C ). The tentacles contain irregular, warty, scale-like forms, often slightly crescentic (~ 0.05–0.18 mm long) ( Fig. 22C ). The polyp neck contains abundant warty rod-like forms (~ 0.08–0.1 mm long) ( Fig. 22D ), which extend into the polyp mound, where they gradually give way to thorny clubs (~ 0.06–0.15 mm long) ( Fig. 22E ). The surface of the lobes between polyp mounds contains a mixture of thorny clubs and warty double-heads (~ 0.08–0.15 mm long) ( Fig. 22F ). The surface of the base contains warty radiates grading into double-heads, and a few spheroids but tends to lack clubs ( Fig. 23A ). The interior of both the lobes and the base contains highly sculptured spheroids and double-heads, as well as some oval or rod-like forms girdled with warts, all of which are usually larger than the sclerites of the surface regions (~ 0.12–0.2 mm long) ( Figs 22G , 23B ). Fig. 23. Kotatea niwa gen. et sp. nov. , holotype (MAGNT C015226), SEMs of sclerites. A . Base surface. B . Base interior. C . Polyps (in situ). Variability Both the paratype and NIWA 58543 possess collaret and point sclerites which are coloured dark orange to red (colourless in holotype ) in their smaller polyps. All three preserved lots are otherwise very similar in colony colour and growth form ( Fig. 14B ), and the paratype and NIWA 58543 correspond very closely to the holotype in terms of sclerite composition and size ranges ( Figs 22–23 ). Comparisons Kotatea niwa gen. et sp. nov. is most similar to K. kurakootingotingo gen. et sp. nov. and K. lobata gen. et sp. nov. , which share its robust, lobate growth form. Differences from these species are discussed under their respective accounts above. Habitat and distribution Specimens of Kotatea niwa gen. et sp. nov. were collected from the Manawatāwhi/Three Kings Islands, Piwhane/Spirits Bay and the Bay of Islands at depths between 17 and 40 m ( Fig. 1A–B ).