Biodiversity and biogeography of the coral boring barnacles of the genus Berndtia (Cirripedia: Acrothoracica) in the West Pacific, with description of three new species

Abstract

Acrothoracican barnacles of the genus Berndtia are exclusive coral borers and the type species is Berndtia purpurea Utinomi, 1950a, reported in the corals Lepastrea purpurea and Psammocora profundacella in Wakayama, Japan. We confirmed the type is only from the coral Lepastrea purpurea and is distributed from Japan, Taiwan to Hong Kong. In contrast, B. purpurea from Psammocora belongs to a new species Berndtia haradai sp. nov., which is distributed from Japan to Okinawa. The other new species identified in the present study, Berndtia denticulata sp. nov. is common in Okinawa but also collected on the Pacific side of the Philippines. Berndtia utinomii sp. nov. is found on NE coast of Taiwan, Kochi and Wakayama in Japan and Vietnam but is absent from Okinawa. All described species are diagnostic in the coloration and morphology of the opercular bars in live specimens, morphology of posterior lobes of operculum and the number of notches in maxillules.

http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:8B6FE5B4-C5DD-48DE-B91A-39BBBAF87636

Keywords:

• Acrothoracica
• biodiversity
• corals
• biogeography

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Prof. Peter Ng and Mr. Tan Siong Kiat (Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research Department of Biological Sciences Faculty of Science National University of Singapore) for loaning the paratype of B. nodosa for examination. The authors would like to thank Dr. Shigeyuki Yamato and Dr. Tomoyuki Nakano (Seto Marine Biological Laboratory, Kyoto University) for arranging the examination of the type specimen of Berndtia purpurea. We are also indebted to Dr. O.P. Poltarukha for additional material on B. utinomii from Phan Rang, Vietnam. G.A. Kolbasov acknowledges grants from the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (1801.2014.4 and 14-04-92002 NNS_a), the Russian Federal Agency of Science and Innovations (02.740. 11.0875) and the Program of Leading Scientific Schools (NSh-1801.2014.4). B.K.K. Chan acknowledges the bilateral Taiwan-Russia collaboration grant from the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan (103-2923-B-001-003-MY3).