A new octocoral species of Swiftia (Holaxonia, Plexauridae) from the upper bathyal off Mauritania (NE Atlantic)

By

Sampaio, Íris
Beuck, Lydia
Freiwald, André

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2022

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

1106

Pages

121--140

Subjects

deep sea , gorgonian , micro-CT , NW Africa , Octocorallia , taxonomy

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1106.81364

 

Abstract

Three species of the genusSwiftiaare known for the NE Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Remotely-operated vehicle (ROV) surveys and sampling on board RV Maria S. Merian during cruise MSM 16/3 ‘PHAETON’ in 2010 provided footage and specimens of octocorals off Mauritania. Micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) reveals, for the first time in taxonomy of octocorals, the three-dimensional arrangement of the sclerites in a polyp.Swiftia phaetonsp. nov.is described for the continental slope off Mauritania. This azooxanthellate octocoral is distinctive from NE Atlantic and Mediterranean congenerics by the dark red colour of the colonies (including the polyps), the presence of a layer of rod sclerites on top of the polyp mounds, and different sizes of polyps and sclerites. Using micro-CT has allowed the observation and imaging of a layer of sclerites that is distinct from other species of the same genus. ROV images revealed live records ofS. phaetonsp. nov.in submarine canyons and on cold-water coral mounds in the upper-bathyal off Mauritania (396–639 m depth), mainly attached to dead coral, coral rubble, or rocks. The new species represents an extension of the genus distribution to the tropical latitudes (17°07'N and 20°14'N) of the NE Atlantic Ocean.