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Phylogeny of the highly divergent zoanthid family Microzoanthidae (Anthozoa, Hexacorallia) from the Pacific
Author(s) -
Fujii Takuma,
Reimer James Davis
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
zoologica scripta
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.204
H-Index - 64
eISSN - 1463-6409
pISSN - 0300-3256
DOI - 10.1111/j.1463-6409.2011.00479.x
Subject(s) - biology , anthozoa , synapomorphy , genus , internal transcribed spacer , ribosomal dna , phylogenetics , zoology , mesenteries , evolutionary biology , ribosomal rna , ecology , coral , anatomy , clade , genetics , gene
Fujii, T. & Reimer, J. D. (2011). Phylogeny of the highly divergent zoanthid family Microzoanthidae (Anthozoa, Hexacorallia) from the Pacific. — Zoologica Scripta, 40 , 418–431. In this study, one new family, one new genus and two new species of zoanthids from rubble zones spanning the temperate, subtropical and tropical Pacific Ocean are described. Two new species are described, Microzoanthus occultus sp. n. and Microzoanthus kagerou sp. n., both belonging to the new genus Microzoanthus and new family Microzoanthidae, and they can be clearly distinguished both morphologically and genetically from each other and other zoanthids by their very small size, reduced or absent stolon, habitat usually on the bottom side of rubble zone rocks, and divergent and distinct DNA (cytochrome oxidase subunit I, mitochondrial 16S ribosomal DNA, internal transcribed spacer region of ribosomal DNA) sequences. The phylogenetic analyses clearly show Microzoanthidae fam. n. to be genetically far different from all other hexacorallians at the order level, but the macrocnemic arrangement of mesenteries and other morphological characters (colonial specimens with narrow stolons, two rows of tentacles sand encrustation) clearly place these specimens within the order Zoantharia. This study demonstrates how it is highly likely the existence of many marine invertebrate taxa remains overlooked, and that widely distributed groups such as Microzoanthidae fam. n. remain to be discovered.