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A New Record of Soft Coral, Lobophytum varium Tixier-Durivault, 1970 (Sarcophytidae: Malacalcyonacea) from the Andaman Islands, India

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Abstract

Soft corals are sessile marine benthic organisms that belong to the subclass Octocorallia of the class Anthozoa and play a significant role in the coral reef ecosystem. A recent marine faunal survey revealed the distribution of Lobophytum varium Tixier-Durivault, 1970 is reported here as a new record for India. The species is distinguished from congeneric species by the skeletal component structures of the colony’s surface layer, which have clubs and rod-shaped sclerites, and the interior regions contain cylindrical, spindle, oblong-shaped, irregular-shaped, and slender capstan-shaped sclerites. This paper provides a detailed descriptions of colony morphology and sclerite and their illustrations.

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Data availability

The recorded species material available in National Zoological Collection of Andaman and Nicobar Regional Centre, Zoological Survey of India, Port Blair, A & N Islands, India.

Code availability

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References

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the Director, Zoological Survey of India, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India, for providing facilities. Also, thanks to the Department of Environment and Forests, Andaman and Nicobar Administration for providing the logistics for conducting the surveys in the marine ecosystems of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Zoological Survey of India, Prani Vigyan Bhawan, M-Block, Kolkata, West Bengal, India

    S. Rajendra & C. Raghunathan

Authors
  1. S. Rajendra
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  2. C. Raghunathan
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SR collected material, identified and prepared manuscript and CR supervision, support and corrected the manuscript.

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Correspondence to S. Rajendra.

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The specimen not under the listed category of experimental animal, which need ethics approval.

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Rajendra, S., Raghunathan, C. A New Record of Soft Coral, Lobophytum varium Tixier-Durivault, 1970 (Sarcophytidae: Malacalcyonacea) from the Andaman Islands, India. Natl. Acad. Sci. Lett. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40009-023-01378-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40009-023-01378-w

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