Pachyseris inattesa sp. n. (Cnidaria, Anthozoa, Scleractinia): a new reef coral species from the Red Sea and its phylogenetic relationships

By

Berumen, Michael L.
Arrigoni, Roberto
Waheed, Zarinah
Bouwmeester, Jessica
Caragnano, Annalisa
Stefani, Fabrizio
Benzoni, Francesca
Terraneo, Tullia Isotta

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2014

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

433

Pages

1-30

Subjects

COI-16S-rRNA intergenic spacer , Leptoseris foliosa , Micro-morphology , Pachyseris rugosa , Pachyseris speciosa , taxonomy

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.433.8036

 

Abstract

A new scleractinian coral species, Pachyseris inattesa sp. n., is described from the Red Sea. Despite a superficial resemblance with some species in the agariciid genus Leptoseris with which it has been previously confused, P. inattesa sp. n. has micro-morphological characters typical of the genus Pachyseris. This genus, once part of the Agariciidae, is comprised of five extant species and is widely distributed throughout the tropical Indo-Pacific. It is currently incertae sedis as a result of recent molecular analysis and appears to be closely related to the Euphylliidae. A molecular phylogenetic reconstruction including P. inattesa sp.n., the genus type species P. rugosa, and P. speciosa, all present in the Red Sea, was performed using the mitochondrial intergenic spacer between COI and 16S-rRNA. The results confirm that P. inattesa sp. n. is a monophyletic lineage closely related to the other Pachyseris species examined.