Redescription of Thouarella brucei Thomson and Ritchie, 1906 (Cnidaria: Octocorallia: Primnoidae) and description of two new Antarctic primnoid species
Author
Zapata-Guardiola, Rebeca
Author
López-González, Pablo J.
text
Zootaxa
2010
2616
48
68
journal article
10.5281/zenodo.197916
5d407501-96a0-44cd-8a9c-47734417e6f9
1175-5326
197916
Genus
Digitogorgia
Zapata-Guardiola and López-González, 2010
Diagnosis
(modified from the original description, modifications in bold)
.
Primnoidae
with bottlebrush colonies and simple branchlets. Polyps elongated, cylindrical, markedly curved upwards to the branch, and arranged in whorls. Accessory operculars eight in number, stick shaped, close to eight operculars. Marginal scales without thorn or keel, eight in number, folding over operculars. Opercular and marginal scales, with pointed digitations distally, attenuated in body scales. Body scales in eight complete longitudinal rows. Coenenchyme with
two layers
: outer layer of oval shaped scales,
inner layer with irregular tuberculate sclerites.
Remarks on diagnosis.
During the study of
Digitogorgia brochi
sp. nov.
we observed the presence of an additional inner layer of irregular tuberculate coenenchymal sclerites. Coenenchymal sclerites were described as a single layer of scales in the
type
species
D. kuekenthali
Zapata-Guardiola and López-González, 2010
. After a re-examination of the coenenchyme of the
holotype
ZIZMH C11740 and
paratype
USNM 1128575 (2 fragments as BEIM-CRO-
30 in
Zapata-Guardiola and López-González, 2010b
: 317) of
D. kuekenthali
, an inner layer of irregular tuberculate sclerites (
Figure 7
) was also observed.