Ushanaia solida Kessel & Alderslade & Bilewitch & Schnabel & Norman & Potts & Gardner 2022, gen. et sp. nov.
Creators: name: Kessel, Gustav M.
name: Alderslade, Philip
name: Bilewitch, Jaret P.
name: Schnabel, Kareen E.
name: Norman, Jerry
name: Potts, Romana Tekaharoa
name: Gardner, Jonathan P. A.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2022
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Cnidaria
Anthozoa
Alcyonacea
Alcyoniidae
Ushanaia
Ushanaia solida

description: Ushanaia solida gen. et sp. nov.
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: BC72CC9C-E954-4166-9DEB-6E17DF6A6E35
Figs 1C, 2K, 28C, 34B, 35–36
Diagnosis
Colony of loosely connected lobes, beige to pale orange with white polyps. Collaret and points hued orange and composed of tuberculate to warty spindles, often broad and flattened and irregular or branched, as well as thorny clubs and spindles. Tentacles contain irregular, warty, scale-like sclerites. Polyp neck contains warty to spiny rod-like sclerites. Polyp mounds contain similar warty to spiny rod- and spindle-like forms, grading into clubs. Surface and interior contains warty to spiny rod- and spindlelike forms, a few radiates and poorly developed clubs.
Etymology
The species name is the Latin word ‘ solida ’, meaning ‘solid’ or ‘three-dimensional’ and referring to the substantially thicker, fleshier colony form of Ushanaia solida gen. et sp. nov. when compared to U. ferruginea gen. et sp. nov. or U. fervens gen. et sp. nov.
Material examined
Holotype NEW ZEALAND • Auckland, Manukau Harbour; 37.0319° S, 174.6507° E (estimated); 11 Apr. 2003; stn Z18522; NIWA 102133.
Description (holotype, NIWA 102133)
Colony form
The holotype is composed of three loosely connected main lobes, measures 4 cm in height and 5 cm in width, and is beige to pale orange (ethanol-preserved) (Fig. 28C). Polyps are densely arranged across the entire surface of the colony, white, 0.75 mm to 1 mm tall when expanded, and have collaret and point sclerites with a slight orange hue (Fig. 2K).
Sclerites
Points are composed of tuberculate to warty spindles, which are often broad and flattened and can be irregularly shaped and branched, and irregular, thorny clubs and spindles distally (~ 0.1–0.4 mm long) (Fig. 35A, D). Proximally, the spindles become more crescentic and slightly larger (~ 0.26–0.55 mm long), transitioning into a transverse orientation and merging with the collaret, which is five to seven rows deep (Figs 34B, 35A). The tentacles contain irregular, warty, scale-like forms, which are often curved and branched (~ 0.06–0.24 mm long) (Fig. 35B). The polyp neck contains warty to spiny rod-like forms (~ 0.1–0.18 mm long) (Fig. 35C), although these are not abundant. Polyp mounds are composed of warty to spiny rod- and spindle-like forms, which grade into some club-like forms (~ 0.1–0.18 mm long) (Fig. 36A). The sclerites of the surface of the lobes, both distal and proximal regions (relative to the substrate), and of the interior are all very similar and consist of warty to spiny rod- and spindle-like forms, a few radiates and poorly developed clubs, and they essentially differ only in size: proximal lobe surface, ~ 0.12–0.26 mm long (Fig. 36B); distal lobe surface, ~ 0.12–0.26 mm long (Fig. 36C); interior, ~ 0.14–0.18 mm long (Fig. 36D).
Variability
The holotype is the only known specimen.
Comparisons
Ushanaia solida gen. et sp. nov. is substantially more fleshy than U. ferruginea gen. et sp. nov. and U. fervens, gen. et sp. nov., differences to which are discussed further under these species. Differences to K. lobata gen. et sp. nov., which may superficially resemble U. solida, are also discussed under that species.
Habitat and distribution
The holotype was collected in Manukau Harbour (Fig. 1C). No precise coordinates, depth or habitat information was recorded. From the remaining fragments of substrate on the colony’s base, it appears to have been growing on encrusting coralline algae.
description: Published as part of Kessel, Gustav M., Alderslade, Philip, Bilewitch, Jaret P., Schnabel, Kareen E., Norman, Jerry, Potts, Romana Tekaharoa & Gardner, Jonathan P. A., 2022, Dead man's fingers point to new taxa: two new genera of New Zealand soft corals (Anthozoa, Octocorallia) and a revision of Alcyonium aurantiacum Quoy & Gaimard, 1833, pp. 1-85 in European Journal of Taxonomy 837 on pages 62-65, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2022.837.1923, http://zenodo.org/record/7084444