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| Epizoanthus xenomorphoideus
Kise, Montenegro, Ekins, et al., 2019.
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Abstract
Many cnidarians have been reported in association with hermit crabs from shallow waters to the deep sea. Some of these actiniarians and zoantharians produce a carcinoecium, a chitin-like pseudo-shell. Many studies have been conducted on hermit crab–actiniarian symbioses, while hermit crab–zoantharian symbioses have received less attention due to the difficulty of specimen collection as they are exclusively found in the deep sea. In this study, 11 carcinoecium-forming specimens associated with hermit crabs of several genera were collected from the western Pacific Ocean. We formally described the collected specimens as Epizoanthus xenomorphoideus sp. nov., E. australis sp. nov., and E. gorgonus sp. nov. based on results of molecular phylogenetic analyses (COI, mt 12S-rDNA, mt 16S-rDNA, 18S-rDNA, ITS-rDNA) and morphological observations. Our phylogenetic results showed that there are two different subclades within a carcinoecium clade, and these subclades have different external morphologies. Further studies with more taxon sampling will enable a more comprehensive evaluation of the evolution and phylogenetic relationships of carcinoecium-forming zoantharian species.
Key words: deep sea, diversity, hermit crab, pseudo-shell, sea anemone, zoantharian
Systematics:
Order Zoantharia Rafinesque, 1815
Suborder Macrocnemina Haddon & Shackleton, 1891
Family Epizoanthidae Delage & H erouard, 1901
Genus Epizoanthus Gray, 1867
Type species: Dysidea papillosa Johnston, 1842, by monotypy
(see also Opinion 1689, ICZN 1992).
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| Epizoanthus xenomorphoideus sp. nov. (holotype: NSMT-Co 1688), A carcinoecium colony inhabited by a Parapaguridae hermit crab. |
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| Epizoanthus xenomorphoideus sp. nov. (holotype: NSMT-Co 1688). (1) living carcinoecium colony from the dorsal side, (2) living carcinoecium colony from the marginal side, (3) living carcinoecium colony from the ventral side.
DP, dorsal polyp; MP, marginal polyp; VP, ventral polyp.
Scale: (1-3) 20 mm.
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Epizoanthus xenomorphoideus sp. nov.
Etymology: The new species is named after a fictional
alien xenomorph creature in the famous 1979 movie
Alien, as this species resembles the ‘face hugger’ xenomorph. ‘Xenomorph’ is combined with the Latin word
‘oideus’ meaning ‘resembling’.
Japanese common name: Yadokari-sunaginchaku
Epizoanthus australis sp. nov.
Etymology: 'Australis' is the Latin word 'southern', as
this species was first discovered in waters off New
South Wales, off south-eastern Australia.
Japanese common name: Kanmuri-yadokari-sunaginchaku
Epizoanthus gorgonus sp. nov.
Etymology: From the Greek word 'gorgon', the monster
Medusa with multiple snake heads, as the marginal polyps and their colouration are reminiscent of vipers.
Japanese common name: Beni-yadokari-sunaginchaku
Hiroki Kise, Javier Montenegro, Merrick Ekins, Takeya Moritaki and James Davis Reimer. 2019. A Molecular Phylogeny of Carcinoecium-forming Epizoanthus (Hexacorallia: Zoantharia) from the Western Pacific Ocean with Descriptions of Three New Species. Systematics and Biodiversity. DOI: 10.1080/14772000.2019.1693439
Researchgate.net/publication/337932019_A_molecular_phylogeny_of_Epizoanthus
Zoantharia coral raised at west Japan aquarium recognized as new species - The Mainichi mainichi.jp/english/articles/20191220/p2a/00m/0na/027000c
Zoantharia coral raised at west Japan aquarium recognized as new species - The Mainichi mainichi.jp/english/articles/20191220/p2a/00m/0na/027000c
