<strong> A revision of the genus <em> Thouarella </ em> Gray, 1870 (Octocorallia: Primnoidae), including an illustrated dichotomous key, a new species description, and comments on <em> Plumarella </ em> Gray, 1870 and <em> Dasystenella </ em>, Versluys, 1906 </ strong>
Author
TAYLOR, M. L.
Author
CAIRNS, S. D.
Author
AGNEW, D. J.
Author
ROGERS, A. D.
text
Zootaxa
2013
2013-01-14
3602
1
1
105
http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3602.1.1
journal article
10.11646/zootaxa.3602.1.1
1175-5326
5259143
10304FBF-3969-4EFA-83F1-BB8A5E2B37F3
Plumarella superba
(
Nutting, 1912
)
Primnodendron superbum
Nutting, 1912: 71–72
, pl. 9, fig. 2, 2a; pl. 19, fig. 4
Thouarella
(
Amphilaphis
)
superba
Kükenthal 1919: 412
;
1924: 291
Thouarella superba
Dautova 2007: 299
(sample not seen)
Thouarella (Thouarella) superba
Cairns & Bayer 2009: 28
(listed);
Heifetz et al. 2005: 133
(listed)
Plumarella superba
Cairns 2011: 13–14
, figs 2C, 9a–l
Material examined
:
Holotype
, USNM 50150, R/
V
Albatross
,
Northwestern Pacific Expedition
, sta. 4778,
Semisopochini Island
,
western Aleutian Islands
,
North Pacific
,
78–133 m
,
5 Jun 1906
.
Description
See full description in
Cairns (2011)
.
Distribution
This
species occurs in the
Aleutian Islands
, possibly to the western boreal
Pacific
,
Sakhalin Island
(
Dautova 2007
) at depths from
29–133 m
.
Remarks
The gross morphology of the colony is dichotomously uniplanar, with clear dorsal and ventral faces. The branches have branchlets on all sides in a bottlebrush arrangement, however, ventral and dorsal branchlets are much shorter than lateral branchlets.
The lack of a keel on the inner surface of the marginals suggests that this species is a
Plumarella
, as the genus description of
Plumarella
is now known to include bottlebrush colonies and specifically species with a smooth inner marginal surface, i.e. unkeeled (
Cairns, 2010
).