Cyphastrea kausti sp. n. (Cnidaria, Anthozoa, Scleractinia), a new species of reef coral from the Red Sea

By

Bouwmeester, Jessica
Benzoni, Francesca
Baird, Andrew H
Berumen, Michael L.

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2015

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

496

Pages

1-13

Subjects

Biodiversity , Coral reef , KAUST , Merulinidae , Saudi Arabia , taxonomy

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.496.9433

 

Abstract

A new scleractinian coral species, Cyphastrea kausti sp. n., is described from 13 specimens from the Red Sea. It is characterised by the presence of eight primary septa, unlike the other species of the genus, which have six, ten or 12 primary septa. The new species has morphological affinities with Cyphastrea microphthalma, from which it can be distinguished by the lower number of septa (on average eight instead of ten), and smaller calices and corallites. This species was observed in the northern and central Red Sea and appears to be absent from the southern Red Sea.