Melithaeidae of Japan (Octocorallia, Alcyonacea) re-examined with descriptions of 11 new species

Abstract Japanese melithaeid type material is re-examined and re-described. The sclerites of the different species are depicted using Scanning Electron Microscopy. All Japanese species of the family Melithaeidae treated here belong to the genus Melithaea and are endemic to Japanese waters. Old museum material and newly collected specimens from Japanese waters are identified after comparison with this type material. Acabaria modesta var. abyssicola is regarded a separate species, here named Melithaea abyssicola (Kükenthal, 1909). In addition, 11 new species are described: Melithaea boninensis sp. n., Melithaea doederleini sp. n., Melithaea isonoi sp. n., Melithaea keramaensis sp. n., Melithaea oyeni sp. n., Melithaea ryukyukensis sp. n., Melithaea sagamiensis sp. n., Melithaea satsumaensis sp. n., Melithaea suensoni sp. n., Melithaea tanseii sp. n., and Melithaea tokaraensis sp. n.. Pleurocorallium confusum Moroff, 1902, Pleurocoralloides formosum Moroff, 1902, Melitodes flabellifera Kükenthal, 1908, and Melitodes densa Kükenthal, 1908 are synonymized with Melithaea japonica (Verrill, 1865). We have designated a neotype for Melithaea mutsu Minobe, 1929. A key to the Japanese melithaeids is presented.

[1]  松本 亜沙子.  List of Japanese gorgonian coral specimens (Anthozoa, Octocorallia) in the Naturhistorisches Museum, Wien, Austria : surveyed in June 2012 , 2015 .

[2]  M. Nonaka,et al.  The Melithaeidae (Cnidaria: Octocorallia) of the Ryukyu Archipelago: molecular and morphological examinations. , 2012, Molecular phylogenetics and evolution.

[3]  C. C. Nutting.  Descriptions Of The Alcyonaria Collected By The U.s. Fisheries Steamer "albatross," Mainly In Japanese Waters, During 1906... , 2011 .

[4]  J. Gray.  Catalogue of Lithophytes or Stony Corals in the Collection of the British Museum , 2009 .

[5]  T. Dautova.  Gorgonians (Anthozoa: Octocorallia) of the northwestern Sea of Japan , 2007, Russian Journal of Marine Biology.

[6]  M. Grasshoff.  The gorgonians of the Sinai coast and the Strait of Gubal, - Red Sea (Coelanterata, Ostocorallia) , 2000 .

[7]  Paul Johnston,et al.  Timing of the Last Glacial Maximum from observed sea-level minima , 2000, Nature.

[8]  H. Kitazato,et al.  Paleoenvironmental changes in the Japan Sea during the last 85 , 1991 .

[9]  L. Ofwegen.  Melithaeidae (Coelenterata: Anthozoa) from the Indian Ocean and the Malay Archipelago , 1987 .

[10]  S. Hickson.  The Family Melitodidæ , 1937 .

[11]  C. McFadden,et al.  A molecular and morphological exploration of the generic boundaries in the family Melithaeidae (Coelenterata: Octocorallia) and its taxonomic consequences. , 2014, Molecular phylogenetics and evolution.

[12]  A. Matsumoto.  Heterogeneous and compensatory growth in Melithaea flabellifera (Octocorallia: Melithaeidae) in Japan , 2004, Hydrobiologia.

[13]  F. Bayer,et al.  A new genus of the scleraxonian family Coralliidae (Octocorallia: Gorgonacea). , 2003 .

[14]  R. Ishiwatari,et al.  Alkenone-sea surface temperatures in the Japan Sea over the past 36 kyr: warm temperatures at the last glacial maximum , 2001 .

[15]  M. Carrington,et al.  Timing of the Last Glacial Maximum from observed sea-level minima , 2001 .

[16]  L. Chou,et al.  The Melithaeidae (Coelenterata: Octocorallia) of Singapore , 2000 .

[17]  M. Grasshoff.  {The shallow water Gorgonians of New Caledonia and adjacent islands (Coelenterata: Octocorallia)} , 1999 .

[18]  G. Williams.  The Alcyonacea of southern Africa. Gorgonian octocorals (Coelenterata, Anthozoa) , 1992 .

[19]  F. Bayer,et al.  Illustrated trilingual glossary of morphological and anatomical terms applied to Octocorallia , 1983 .

[20]  M. Aurivillius.  The Gorgonarians from Dr. Sixten Bock's expedition to Japan and Bonin Islands 1914 , 1931 .

[21]  T. Moroff.  Einige neue japanische Gorgoniaceen in der Munchener Sammlung; gesammelt von Dr. Haberer , 2022 .