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Abstract
Acanthoaxis wirtzi, a new genus and new species of octocoral, is described and depicted for specimens collected in shallow water off Botha Island, Cameroon, West Africa. A new family, Acanthoaxiidae, is proposed to accommodate the new genus. The characters of this family are the total lack of sclerites; the axis having a narrow, hollow, soft, cross-chambered central core; and the axis surface having prominent spines.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Dr Peter Wirtz (Department of Biology, University Madeira) for entrusting the specimens to us, Mr Koos van Egmond (Nationaal Natuurhistorisch Museum, Leiden) for curatorial assistance and Mr Jack van Oyen (Nationaal Natuurhistorisch Museum) for preparing the cross-sections of the axis. DNA sequencing was funded by the Assembling the Cnidarian Tree of Life project, NSF grants EF-0531570 to C.S. McFadden and EF-0531779 to Paulyn Cartwright.