A review of the genus Mirostenella Bayer, 1988 (Octocorallia: Primnoidae) with a description of a new subgenus and species

Abstract

In the present study, the genus Mirostenella Bayer (Proc Biol Soc Wash 101:251–256, 1988) is revised. We add to knowledge of the type species of the genus M. articulata Bayer (Proc Biol Soc Wash 101:251–256, 1988) from newly collected material from the Antarctic cruise Polarstern ANT XIX/5, and an illustrated description of this species is included. Cairns and Bayer (Smithson Contrib Zool 629:1–79, 2009) included Dicholaphis delicatula Thomson and Rennet (Sci Rept C Zool Bot 9(3):1–46, 1931) in the genus Mirostenella but after the examination of the type material, it is proposed to include the species in the recently described Plumarella subgenus, Faxiella (Zapata-Guardiola and Lo´pez-Gonza´lez in Sci Mar 76:357–380, 2012). In addition, a new species of Plumarella, Plumarella castellviae sp. nov. from SubAntarctic waters is also described and illustrated. The species has similarities to Mirostenella but differs from it in the absence of organic nodes at bifurcation points and the presence of a sympodial branching pattern. Moreover, a new subgenus, Verticillata, is also proposed to include Plumarella species with polyps arranged in whorls around branchlets.