Ming-Shiou Jeng

Phylogeny and systematics of deep-sea precious corals (Anthozoa: Octocorallia: Coralliidae).

The phylogeny of Coralliidae is being increasingly studied to elucidate their evolutionary history and species delimitation due to global concerns about their conservation. Previous studies on phylogenetic relationships within Coralliidae have pointed out that the two currently recognized genera are not monophyletic and the Coralliidae should be divided into three genera. In order to provide a comprehensive revision of the taxonomy of Coralliidae, we documented 110 specimens using eight mitochondrial and one nuclear loci to reconstruct their phylogeny. The morphological features of 27 type specimens were also examined. Phylogenetic relationships based on both mitochondrial and nuclear markers revealed two reciprocally monophyletic clades of Coralliidae. One of the clades was further split into two subclades with respect to sequence variation and observable morphological features. Based on the results of genealogical analyses and distinctive morphological features, the three genera classification of Coralliidae proposed by Gray (1867) was redefined. In this revised taxonomic system, Corallium, Hemicorallium, and Pleurocorallium consist of 7, 16 and 14 species, respectively. Our results also showed that the cosmopolitan Hemicorallium laauense is a species complex containing a cryptic species.

Taxonomic revision of Coralliidae with descriptions of new species from New Caledonia and the Hawaiian Archipelago

ABSTRACT The systematics of Coralliidae has been revised based on molecular phylogenetic analysis and detailed morphological studies. This revision has also revealed the existence of new species. In order to fully accomplish this revision, five new species including Hemicorallium aurantiacum sp. nov., Pleurocorallium bonsaiarborum sp. nov., P. clavatum sp. nov., and P. norfolkicum sp. nov. from New Caledonia, and H. guttatum sp. nov. from the Hawaiian Archipelago are described by integrating the phylogenetic inference and morphological comparisons. Moreover, the type specimens of Corallium tortuosum, H. reginae, H. halmaheirense, P. porcellanum and P. kishinouyei as well as non-type specimens of C. stylasteroides are redescribed. The sclerites of H. reginae, H. halmaheirense, P. porcellanum and C. stylasteroides were first depicted by scanning electron microcopy. A thorough comparison between P. porcellanum and P. kishinouyei indicated that they should be regarded as one species and the former was adopted as the senior synonym. The two new species of Hemicorallium can be separated by morphological features based on the result of multiple factor analysis. A key is proposed for the identification of all existing species of Coralliidae. http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:7B772D08-E3D6-4585-AE78-E5A31BE32ECC