Alcyonacea Lamouroux 1812

Telesto trichostemma.

Colony of plexaura flexuosa (13); Red thorny spindle (14); Red warty spindle (15); White warty spindle (16).

Isis hippuris, Linn..

Colony of Gorgonia bipinnata.

Figure 3.Sinularia australiensis sp. n., holotype NTM C14519. Sclerites of the surface layer of the base of the colony A leptoclados-type clubs B wart clubs C–D spindles. Scale of 0.10 mm at D only applies to D.

Figure 1.Maximum likelihood tree of Octocorallia based on combined, partitioned analysis of mtMutS, COI and 28S rDNA sequences. Taxa belonging to family Alcyoniidae are shown in blue; new combinations proposed herein are shown in red. Solid circles at nodes indicate strong support from both maximum likelihood (bootstrap values >70%) and Bayesian inference (posterior probability > 0.95); open circles indicate moderate support (bootstrap values >50%, Bayesian pp > 0.95). Strongly supported clades that include no alcyoniid taxa have been collapsed to triangles to facilitate readability. HA: Holaxonia–Alcyoniina clade; CP: Calcaxonia–Pennatulacea clade. Hexacorallian taxa used as outgroups are not shown. For a list of all reference taxa and sequences included in the analysis see Appendix.

Figure 16.Scanning electron micrographs of polyp sclerites of Ovabunda aldersladei Janes, 2008 holotype (RMNH Coel. 38681). Arrow indicates surface crest. Scale bar 10 µm.

Figure 5.Aldersladum jengi gen. n. and sp. n., holotype ZMTAU Co 33607; rods with median constriction from colony base. Scale = 0.010 mm.

Dendronephthya soft coral from North coast East Timor (05/08/04)From Wikimedia Commons

Colony of Eunicea rousseauii.

Gorgonia Flexuosa, D..

Figure 4.Sinularia australiensis sp. n., holotype NTM C14519. sclerites of the interior A spindles from the lobules B tuberculation of one of the lobule spindles C spindles from the base D tuberculation of one of the base spindles. Scale of 1 mm at C also applies to A.

Figure 4.Sclerites of Parasphaerasclera aurea comb. n., RMNH Coel. 40779. A Surface of polyparium B Interior of polyparium.

Figure 17.Scanning electron micrographs of polyp sclerites of Ovabunda macrospiculata (Gohar, 1940) neotype (ZMTAU Co 25635). a Pear-shape sclerite b Regular sclerites c Fused sclerite. Scale bar 10 µm.

Figure 6.Underwater photographs of a Aldersladum sodwanum comb. n.* b holotype of Aldersladum jengi gen. n. and sp. n. ZMTAU Co 33607. *Courtesy of M.H. Schleyer.

Leptogorgia Agassizii (a gorgonia).

Gorgonia verticellata (Pallas).

Figure 5.Sinularia eilatensis sp. n., colonies. A ZMTAU Co 35260, holotype B ZMTAU Co 35261, paratype C ZMTAU Co 35305, paratype D ZMTAU Co 35303 E ZMTAU Co 35304 F Sinularia verseveldti, ZMTAU Co 35309.

Figure 9.Sclerites of Parasphaerasclera aff. grayi comb. n. RMNH Coel. 40920 A Surface layer of stalk B Interior of stalk.

Figure 18.Scanning electron micrographs of polyp sclerites of Ovabunda macrospiculata (Gohar, 1940) paratype (ZMTAU Co 35790). a Regular sclerites b Irregular sclerite c Fused sclerites d Pear-shaped sclerite. Scale bar 10 µm.

Gorgonia verticellata (Pallas).

Figure 6.Sinularia eilatensis sp. n., holotype ZMTAU Co 35260. A point clubs B collaret spindles C tentacle rods D leptoclados-type clubs of surface layer of lobule E wart clubs of surface layer of lobule F spindles of surface layer of lobule. Scale of 0.10 mm at F only applies to F.

Figure 1.Maximum likelihood tree of Octocorallia based on combined, partitioned analysis of mtMutS, COI and 28S rDNA sequences. Taxa belonging to family Alcyoniidae are shown in blue; new combinations proposed herein are shown in red. Solid circles at nodes indicate strong support from both maximum likelihood (bootstrap values >70%) and Bayesian inference (posterior probability > 0.95); open circles indicate moderate support (bootstrap values >50%, Bayesian pp > 0.95). Strongly supported clades that include no alcyoniid taxa have been collapsed to triangles to facilitate readability. HA: Holaxonia–Alcyoniina clade; CP: Calcaxonia–Pennatulacea clade. Hexacorallian taxa used as outgroups are not shown. For a list of all reference taxa and sequences included in the analysis see Appendix.

Figure 19.Scanning electron micrographs of polyp sclerites of Ovabunda macrospiculata (Gohar, 1940) paratype (ZMTAU Co 35791). a Regular sclerite b Irregular sclerites c Fused sclerites. Arrows indicate surface dents. Scale bar 10 µm.