Cyphastrea salae, a new species of hard coral from Lord Howe Island, Australia (Scleractinia, Merulinidae)

By

Baird, Andrew H
Hoogenboom, Mia
Huang, Danwei

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2017

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

662

Pages

49-66

Subjects

Biodiversity , Biogeography , Cnidarian , coral reefs , phylogenetics

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.662.11454

 

Abstract

A new zooxanthellate reef-dwelling scleractinian coral species, Cyphastrea salae sp. n. (Scleractinia, Merulinidae), is described from Lord Howe Island Australia. The new species can be distinguished morphologically from the only other congeneric species on Lord Howe Island, C. microphthalma, by the number of primary septa (12 vs. 10) and the much taller corallites (mean ± SE: 1.0 ± 0.07 mm v 0.4 ± 0.04 mm). The relationship of C. salae to four of the other eleven currently accepted species in the genus was explored through analyses of nuclear (28S rDNA) and mitochondrial (noncoding intergenic region) gene sequences. Cyphastrea salae sp. n. forms a strongly supported clade that is distinct from a clade containing three species found commonly in Australia, C. chalcidicum, C. serailia, and C. microphthalma. One specimen was also found in the Solitary Islands, another high latitude location in south-eastern Australia. The discovery of a new species in the genus Cyphastrea on high latitude reefs in south-eastern Australia suggests that other new species might be found among more diverse genera represented here and that the scleractinian fauna of these isolated locations is more distinct than previously recognised.