Kotatea lobata 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
Kotatea
Kotatea lobata

description: Kotatea lobata gen. et sp. nov.
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: DD060415-26EE-4549-A167-813E05D11323
Figs 1B, 2F, 4C–F, 18–21
? Alcyonium aurantiacum – Morton & Miller 1973: 154, 170, 272–274, pl. 6. — Westerskov & Probert 1981 in part: 111, pl. 28. — Morton 2004: 267; fig. 14.4. — Grange et al. 2010 in part: 148.
Diagnosis
Colonies robustly lobate and orange with white polyps. Collaret and points colourless with flattened, often slender, warty spindles and thorny clubs. Tentacles contain irregular, warty, scale-like sclerites. Polyp neck contains few tuberculate to warty rod-like forms, concentrated towards its base. Polyp mounds contain short, warty rod- and spindle-like forms and thorny clubs. Lobe surface contains similar thorny clubs, larger spindle-like forms and radiates. Base surface contains similar radiates, along with broad spindles, rod-like forms, clubs, and some leafy spheroids. Lobe and base interior contains distinctive, highly branched, irregular antler- and spindle-like forms.
Etymology
The species name is the Latin word ‘ lobata ’ for ‘lobed’.
Material examined
Holotype NEW ZEALAND • Northland, Houhora Harbour; 34.8216° S, 173.1508° E; depth 3–10 m; 30 Nov. 2002; NIWA exped.; stn Z15913; NIWA 101313.
Paratypes NEW ZEALAND – Northland • 1 specimen; Bay of Islands, Moturoa Island, Battleship Rock; 35.2087° S, 174.1167° E; depth 29–30 m; 7 Sep. 2009; Oceans Survey 2020 exped.; stn KAH0907 /240; NIWA 58562 • 1 specimen; Mokohinau Islands, Flax Islands; 35.9128° S, 175.0954° E; depth 6–10 m; 23 Apr. 1999; Coral Reef Research Foundation exped.; stn Z15906; NIWA 101268. – Auckland • 8 specimens; Great Barrier Island / Aotea; 36.3330° S, 175.4740° E; 7 Jun. 2006; NIWA exped.; stn Z15978; NIWA 101740 • 10 specimens; Manukau Harbour; 37.0347° S, 174.6697° E; depth 8 m; 2 Feb. 1976; New Zealand Oceanographic Institute exped.; stn O8; NIWA 142995 • 2 specimens; Manukau Harbour; 37.1323° S, 174.6785° E; depth 8 m; 2 Feb. 1976; New Zealand Oceanographic Institute exped.; stn O4; NIWA 143082.
Additional material
NEW ZEALAND – Northland • 4 specimens; Cavalli Islands, Nukutaunga Island; 34.9750° S, 173.9635° E; depth 6 m; 12 Jun. 2017; S. Hannam leg.; stn Z17927; NIWA 108960 • 1 specimen; Cavalli Islands, Motukawanui Island; 34.9860° S, 173.9367° E; depth 5–17.5 m; 9 Apr. 2013; G. Wiren et al. leg.; stn TK2013-1-019; AK 656657 • 1 specimen; Mokohinau Islands, Flax Islands; 35.9128° S, 175.0955° E; depth 6 m; 23 Apr. 1999; Coral Reef Research Foundation exped.; MAGNT C013956 • 1 specimen; Mokohinau Islands, Flax Islands; 35.9167° S, 175.1167° E; depth 6–18 m; 23 Apr. 1999; J. Starmer leg.; MAGNT C015222 • 1 specimen; same collection data as for preceding; MAGNT C015227 • 1 specimen; same collection data as for preceding; MAGNT C015228 • 1 specimen; same collection data as for preceding; MAGNT C015229 • 1 specimen; same collection data as for preceding; MAGNT C015230 • 1 specimen; same collection data as for preceding; MAGNT C015250 • 1 specimen; same collection data as for preceding; MAGNT C015251. – Auckland and Coromandel Peninsula • 1 specimen; Cape Rodney, Leigh Reef; 36.2833° S, 174.8167° E; depth 20 m; Jan. 1978; P. Alderslade and K. Harada leg.; MAGNT C001022 • 1 specimen; same collection data as for preceding; MAGNT C001023 • 1 specimen; Cape Rodney, Leigh Reef; 36.2833° S, 174.8167° E; depth 0 m; 4 Feb. 1977; P. Alderslade leg.; MAGNT C001693 • 1 specimen; Mercury Islands, Great Mercury Island / Ahuahu; 36.6347° S, 175.7675° E; depth 5–15 m; 6 Dec. 1988; Queensland Museum exped.; MAGNT C015219 • 1 specimen; Muriwai, Maukatia / Maori Bay; 36.8384° S, 174.4268° E; depth 0 m; 21 Jan. 2015; W.M. Blom leg.; AK 120774.
Description (holotype, NIWA 101313)
Colony form
The holotype consists of an orange (ethanol-preserved), lobate colony measuring 7 cm in height by 5 cm width (Fig. 18), composed of a single main lobe from which emerges a smaller, secondary lobe. The basal section is very short, reaching a maximum length of no more than a few millimetres. Polyps grow uniformly across most of the colony’s surface, being absent only from the lowest edges of the base in close proximity to the substrate. Polyps are white, 0.5–1 mm tall when expanded, with colourless collaret and points (Fig. 2F).
Sclerites
Points are composed of flattened warty spindles (~ 0.16–0.2 mm long), many of which are slender, and thorny clubs distally (~ 0.08–0.24 mm long) (Fig. 19A–B). Proximally, the spindles become larger and more crescentic (~ 0.24–0.36 mm long), transitioning into a transverse orientation and merging with the collaret, which is four to six rows deep (Figs 19A, 21B). The tentacles contain flat, warty, scalelike forms with irregular but often curved shapes (~ 0.06–0.2 mm long) (Fig. 19C). The polyp neck contains tuberculate to warty rod-like forms (~ 0.08–0.12 mm long), although these are few in number and occur mainly at its base (Fig. 19D). The polyp mounds are composed mostly of short, warty rod- and spindle-like forms and thorny clubs (~ 0.06–0.12 mm long) (Fig. 19E). The surface of the lobes between polyp mounds includes similar clubs as well as larger spindle-like forms and radiates (~ 0.09–0.2 mm long) (Fig. 19F). The surface of the base contains a few broad spindles (~ 0.25 mm long) but is mostly composed of similar radiates (although these can have more complex surface ornamentation than on the lobes), rod-like forms, clubs and some leafy spheroids (~ 0.08–0.2 mm long) (Fig. 20B). The interior of both the lobes and the base are characterised by highly branched, irregular antler- and spindle-like forms (~ 0.08–0.35 mm long). The branched spindles are particularly common in the interior of the lobes (Fig. 20A), whereas the interior of the base possesses more antler-like sclerites (Fig. 21A).
Variability
The number of lobes can vary substantially between specimens (Figs 4C–F, 19). The size of the colony and thickness of the lobes is also highly dependent on a colony’s state of expansion. Examined contracted specimens measured up to 8 cm tall. In preserved specimens, colour ranges from light to dark orange or even red (matching colouration of live specimens in situ, Fig. 4C–E), and occasionally dull beige, which is the case for MAGNT C001022 and MAGNT C001693 (Fig. 18), but this is probably due to initial fixation in formalin. Wherever polyps are retracted on contracted colonies the polyp mounds are often clearly visible and can give Kotatea lobata gen. et sp. nov. specimens a distinctive scaly appearance, which is especially clear in the holotype, NIWA 101313 (Fig. 18). Lobes always emerge from a short basal section but can be either cylindrical or somewhat flattened in one plane, as is the case for paratype NIWA 58562 (Fig. 18).
While minor variations in the relative frequencies of sclerite forms exist between specimens (e.g., one specimen may have more clubs and fewer radiates in its lobe surface compared to another), the composition of sclerite forms is consistent across all specimens (i.e., the lobe surface is always composed of clubs, radiates and large spindle-like forms), matching the holotype (Figs 19–21). The size ranges of all specimens’ sclerites also falls within those described for the holotype.
Comparisons
Kotatea lobata gen. et sp. nov. is most similar in appearance to the robustly lobed congeners K. niwa gen. et sp. nov. and K. kurakootingotingo gen. et sp. nov., and to K. aurantiaca gen. et comb. nov. Differences from the latter two species are discussed under their respective accounts above.
Specimens of Kotatea lobata gen. et sp. nov. are easily distinguished from those of K. niwa gen. et sp. nov. in lacking spots, but also in lacking the spheroids and distinctive interior double-heads found in this species. Conversely, the large, slender, antler-like spindles found in the interior of K. lobata are absent in K. niwa (compare Figs 20A, 21A and 22G, 23B). The sclerites of K. lobata are also overall smaller and less highly sculptured than those of K. niwa.
The fleshy lobes of Ushanaia solida gen. et sp. nov. superficially resemble those of K. lobata gen. et sp. nov., but U. solida is easily differentiated by a lack of the slender, highly branched, antler-like interior spindles, which are characteristic of K. lobata specimens.
Habitat and distribution
Specimens were collected from around the northern North Island of New Zealand, from Houhora Harbour to the Mercury Islands on the eastern coasts and from Muriwai to Manukau Harbour on the western coast between the intertidal and depths of ~ 30 m (Fig. 1B–C). Kotatea lobata gen. et sp. nov. is also notable for occasionally being exposed at low tide, usually under boulders or overhangs (Fig. 4E– F). Many of the specimens were recorded as having been collected from under boulders and from rock faces.
Remarks
Intertidal observations of Alcyonium aurantiacum probably refer to K. lobata gen. et sp. nov. rather than K. aurantiaca gen. et comb. nov. (see remarks under K. aurantiaca gen. et comb. nov. above).
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 34-40, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2022.837.1923, http://zenodo.org/record/7084444