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Diversity of Edwardsiidae sea anemones (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Actiniaria) from Brazil, with the description of a new genus and species
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 March 2019
Abstract
Edwardsiidae is one of the most speciose families within order Actiniaria with ~75 valid species of burrowing sea anemones. Five edwardsiids have been recorded in South Atlantic waters with only two species known for Brazil: Nematostella vectensis and Edwardsia migottoi. Such low diversity is probably the result of a historical small number of specialists in the region combined with difficulties in collecting and identifying these small burrowing animals. Although edwardsiids have been reported from Brazil since at least the 1960s, these reports did not include proper descriptions or specific identification, making comparison to other valid species impossible. Here we describe a new genus, Isoscolanthus gen. nov., and two new species: Isoscolanthus iemanjae sp. nov., Isoscolanthus janainae sp. nov. and we also describe Scolanthus crypticus sp. nov., the first species of the genus for Brazil. Isoscolanthus gen. nov. is easily distinguished from other edwardsiid genera by a combination of external (i.e. presence of periderm and nemathybomes in proximal end and 12 tentacles), microanatomical (i.e. four microcnemes) and cnidom features (i.e. pterotrichs in nemathybomes). In addition to the description of the new genus and species, we expand the range distribution of Nematostella vectensis and Edwardsia migottoi in the South-western Atlantic. The number of edwardsiids known from Brazil is raised from two to five species, substantially increasing the diversity of soft-bottom sea anemones for South Atlantic waters.
- Type
- Research Article
- Information
- Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 99 , Issue 5 , August 2019 , pp. 1087 - 1098
- Copyright
- Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2019
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