McFadden, C.S.; van Ofwegen, L.P. (2012). A revision of the soft coral genus, Eunephthya Verrill, 1869 (Anthozoa: Octocorallia: Nephtheidae), with a description of four new species from South Africa. Zootaxa. 3485: 1-25.

164061

10.11646/zootaxa.3485.1.1 [view]

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:B706A33A-DA90-4E71-99E1-A75943F4CABF [view]

McFadden, C.S.; van Ofwegen, L.P.

2012

3485: 1-25

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Based on the results of morphological and molecular phylogenetic analyses of newly collected material, we reinstate the soft coral genus Eunephthya Verrill, 1869 for a group of species endemic to South Africa. Eunephthya is morphologically and phylogenetically distinct from the zooxanthellate, tropical genus Capnella Gray, 1869 with which it had been synonymized. In Eunephthya the polyp sclerites include unilaterally spinose or leaf spindles, and the sclerites of the stalk surface and interior (when present) are small radiates and spheroids. In contrast, C. imbricata, the type species of Capnella, has leaf clubs and leaf-capstans in the polyps and stalk surface, and large ovals and irregular forms in the interior. We describe four new species of Eunephthya from Algoa Bay, South Africa—E. celata, E. ericius, E. granulata, and E. shirleyae— and propose a new combination, E. susanae.

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