New species of black corals (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Antipatharia) from the New Zealand region, part 3

ABSTRACT

Five new species of antipatharian corals are described from the New Zealand region. Differential diagnoses are given and comparisons are made to related nominal species. Described as new are: Anozopathes psednocrada, Aphanipathes rosemariae, and Acanthopathes candelabra in the family Aphanipathidae; Triadopathes trilix in the family Stylopathidae; and Lillipathes ventalina in the family Schizopathidae.

KEYWORDS:

• Aphanipathidae
• Stylopathidae
• Schizopathidae
• black corals
• taxonomy
• new species
• New Zealand

Acknowledgements

The author wishes to thank the funding agencies, and the participants in the research voyages and MPI Observers for their efforts in collecting the corals discussed in this paper. Special thanks go to Dennis Gordon, Di Tracey, Rob Stewart, Sadie Mills, Kareen Schnabel, and Dean Stotter for their hospitality during visits to Wellington, and to Diana Macpherson and Amelia Connell of NIWA and to Belinda Glasby of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa for their virtual assistance with information needed for the manuscript. The author also wishes to thank S. Cairns, W. Keel, W. Moser, and K. Reed for their support during visits to the NMNH. The photomicrographs were prepared in the NMNH SEM Laboratory (S. D. Whittaker, director). Special thanks to T. Molodtsova and J. Horowitz for their careful and thorough reviews of the manuscript, and to NZJZ editor J. Banks for his help with the submission. D.M. Opresko is a Research Associate of the NMNH, and gratefully acknowledges that affiliation.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

Funding for the collection of the specimens discussed in this report was provided by the following organisations: Former New Zealand Ministry for Primary Industries of Fisheries (Project No. ZBD2001/10 and ZBD2004-01), now Ministry for Primary Industries (SMT9801); New Zealand Foundation for Research, Science and Technology [C01X0028 (SFA023) and C01X0224 (SFAS033)]; Australian National Oceans Office; and NOAA Satellite Operations Facility (NRAM053). Financial support for visits to NIWA was provided by a US Department of Justice grant to the Smithsonian Institution and by the Conservation Services Programme, New Zealand Department of Conservation.