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Scytalium herklotsi sp. nov. (Anthozoa, Octocorallia, Pennatulacea), the first Atlantic species in the genus Scytalium Herklots, 1858

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Abstract

A new species of the sea pen genus Scytalium Herklots, 1858, is proposed based on the morphological and molecular study of a colony collected during the Océano Profundo 2018 cruise to the Caribbean Sea (NW Atlantic). The new species, Scytalium herklotsi sp. nov., is characterized by its well-developed and overlapping polyp leaves (up to 68 mm in length and 27 mm in width), the presence of eight spiculated large digitiform processes at the distal part of the basal portion of autozooids, the axis rounded in cross section, the numerous siphonozooids in a continuous band of 3–6 rows along the latero-dorsal area of the rachis, and up to 3 rows between contiguous polyp leaves, among other features. An additional unrecorded type of sclerites is reported from the pharynx of autozooids, probably also present in other species of the genus. Scytalium herklotsi sp. nov. is the first species of the genus recorded so far from the Atlantic Ocean, all other described species being Indo-West Pacific. The new species is also the deepest record of a Scytalium species (ca 500 m in depth); the previous published records range from 10 to 206 m in depth. A molecular comparison based on a set of concatenated sequences of four markers (three mitochondrial genes (mtMutS, ND2, and Cox1) and a nuclear segment (28S)) relates the new species to other published sequences attributed to Scytalium species, within the named Clade II of previous general phylogenetic studies on the octocoral Order Pennatulacea.

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Acknowledgments

The author would like to express his gratitude to Stephen Cairns and the staff of the Smithsonian Institution for making the type material of the new Scytalium species here proposed available for study. I also express my gratitude to the cruise leader, D. Wagner, and participants on board the Océano Profundo 2018 cruise for the collection of this interesting sample. Thanks to Jeroen Goud (Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden), who provided images and comments on the type material of Scytalium sarsii, the type species of the genus, as well as to Imahar Yukimitsu (Biological Institute on Kuroshio, Wakayama, Japan) for additional information on Scytalium specimens collected in Japanese waters. I would like to thank numerous colleagues and cruise leaders who have worked on the campaigns during which the material examined here was obtained: BIOROSS, BIOICE, ANT XXIII/8, SCOTIA cruises, and INDEMARES-Chica. On these cruises, our special thanks are addressed to Wolf Arntz, Josep-Maria Gili, Jim Drewery, Gudmundur Gudmundsson, Gudmundur Vidir, Jörundur Svavarsson, Stefano Schiaparelli, Annenina Lortz, Julian Gutt, Enrique Isla, Victor Díaz-del-Río, and José Luis Rueda. I also acknowledge financial support for a visit to the Sandgerdi Marine Centre (Iceland) under the EC-funded TMR BIOICE Large-Scale Facility Programme. I also acknowledge Dr. José Martín Garrido for his help in completing part of DNA amplifications. The study of the Antarctic specimens and the final conception of this paper were carried out under the project CTM2017- 83920-P (DIVERSICORAL) funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness. Mr Tony Krupa is thanked for reviewing the English version. The author would like to thank the two anonymous reviewers and the Editorial Office of MB for all their constructive comments and suggestions, which helped to improve the quality of an early version of the manuscript. Dr. Xu (Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences) is also thanked for his comments on the polyphyly of the genera currently included in the family Virgulariidae, with special emphasis on the placement of the genus Scytalium.

Funding

The collection of some of the specimens here studied was carried out thanks to the Spanish Projects POL2006-06399/CGL (Polarstern ANT XXIII/8 - CLIMANT), and LIFE07/NAT/E/000732 LIFE+INDEMARES. This research is supported by the project CTM2017-83920-P (DIVERSICORAL), Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness.

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  1. Biodiversidad y Ecología Acuática, Departamento de Zoología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain

    Pablo J. López-González

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Correspondence to Pablo J. López-González.

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All applicable international, national, and/or institutional guidelines for animal testing, animal care and use of animals were followed by the author.

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Communicated by B. W. Hoeksema

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Supplementary Information

ESM 1

SMFig. 1 ML analysis showing the phylogenetic relationships of Scytalium herklotsi sp. nov. with congeners and other genera and species of sea pens within Clade II (see Dolan et al. 2013, Kushida and Reimer 2018). The present hypothesis is based on the concatenated set of sequences of four markers: mtMutS+ND2+Cox1+28S. The tree is drawn to scale, with branch lengths measured in the number of substitutions per site. Supporting values (Bootstrap) are in percentages. See Table 1 for complete list of species and GenBank accession numbers. The asterisk indicates a divergent sequence attributed to the genus Pennatula, but far from the true core of this genus (see Phylogenetic analyses section). (PNG 747 kb)

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López-González, P.J. Scytalium herklotsi sp. nov. (Anthozoa, Octocorallia, Pennatulacea), the first Atlantic species in the genus Scytalium Herklots, 1858. Mar. Biodivers. 51, 62 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-021-01200-0

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