Diversity of Zoanthids (Anthozoa: Hexacorallia) on Hawaiian Seamounts: Description of the Hawaiian Gold Coral and Additional Zoanthids

The Hawaiian gold coral has a history of exploitation from the deep slopes and seamounts of the Hawaiian Islands as one of the precious corals commercialised in the jewellery industry. Due to its peculiar characteristic of building a scleroproteic skeleton, this zoanthid has been referred as Gerardia sp. (a junior synonym of Savalia Nardo, 1844) but never formally described or examined by taxonomists despite its commercial interest. While collection of Hawaiian gold coral is now regulated, globally seamounts habitats are increasingly threatened by a variety of anthropogenic impacts. However, impact assessment studies and conservation measures cannot be taken without consistent knowledge of the biodiversity of such environments. Recently, multiple samples of octocoral-associated zoanthids were collected from the deep slopes of the islands and seamounts of the Hawaiian Archipelago. The molecular and morphological examination of these zoanthids revealed the presence of at least five different species including the gold coral. Among these only the gold coral appeared to create its own skeleton, two other species are simply using the octocoral as substrate, and the situation is not clear for the final two species. Phylogenetically, all these species appear related to zoanthids of the genus Savalia as well as to the octocoral-associated zoanthid Corallizoanthus tsukaharai, suggesting a common ancestor to all octocoral-associated zoanthids. The diversity of zoanthids described or observed during this study is comparable to levels of diversity found in shallow water tropical coral reefs. Such unexpected species diversity is symptomatic of the lack of biological exploration and taxonomic studies of the diversity of seamount hexacorals

The Utilization of Translocation Lines and Microsatellite Markers for the Identification of Unknown Cotton Monosomic Lines

Simple sequence repeats (SSR) have been applied as useful markers for understanding cotton genetics. In the last decade, chromosome-deficient stocks of Gossypium hirsutum L. were used in the development of chromosome substitution lines for G. barbadense L., G. tomentosum Nuttall et Seemann, and G. mustelinum Watt chromosomes or chromosome segments. Several DNA markers have already been assigned to the individual chromosomes of G. hirsutum. We created new cotton monosomic lines in Uzbekistan after irradiation of seeds by thermal neutrons or pollen gamma‐irradiation to complement other global efforts in the development of cotton chromosome substitution lines. The primary objective of this chapter is to report the use of chromosome-specific SSR markers and a well-defined tester set of cotton translocation lines from the Cotton Cytogenetic Collection at Texas A&M AgriLife Research to confirm chromosome specificity of monosomic lines in Uzbekistan cytogenetic collection of cotton. Our results have assigned several different monosomic lines to the chromosomes 2, 4, 6, and telosome 11 At‐subgenome and chromosomes 18 and 20 or 22 Dt‐subgenome. These lines will be very useful in molecular mapping, the creation of substitution lines, and cotton breeding

Global Diversity of Ascidiacea

The class Ascidiacea presents fundamental opportunities for research in the fields of development, evolution, ecology, natural products and more. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the current knowledge regarding the global biodiversity of the class Ascidiacea, focusing in their taxonomy, main regions of biodiversity, and distribution patterns. Based on analysis of the literature and the species registered in the online World Register of Marine Species, we assembled a list of 2815 described species. The highest number of species and families is found in the order Aplousobranchia. Didemnidae and Styelidae families have the highest number of species with more than 500 within each group. Sixty percent of described species are colonial. Species richness is highest in tropical regions, where colonial species predominate. In higher latitudes solitary species gradually contribute more to the total species richness. We emphasize the strong association between species richness and sampling efforts, and discuss the risks of invasive species. Our inventory is certainly incomplete as the ascidian fauna in many areas around the world is relatively poorly known, and many new species continue to be discovered and described each year

Pareugyrioides galatheae

Pareugyrioide s galatheae (Millar, 1959) (®gure 30) Molgula galatheae Millar, 1959: 202. Pareugyrioides galatheae: Kott, 1969: 161; Monniot and Monniot, 1977b: 316; 1982: 124; 1983: 116. Material examined. St. 914, 5650±6070 m, three specimens; st. 916, 4664±5631 m, one specimen. Remarks. The anatomy of the present specimens is identical with that of the specimen described by Monniot and Monniot (1977b) from the south Indian Ocean. The specimen ®gured by Kott (1969: 160) has a diOEerent position of the right gonad, its proximal end`lies against and overlies’ the dorsal border of the renal sac. In the present material (®gure 30) the right gonad is separated from the antero-dorsal end of the elongate renal sac, as originally described and as ®gured by Monniot and Monniot (1977b). At present it is di cult to decide if the diOEerence described is intraspeci®c variation. The most peculiar character of the species is the presence of short papillae on the radial parastigmatic vessels. Similar papillae occur only in the recently described Molguloides sulcatus Sanamyan and Sanamyan, 1999. Originally described from the Guinea Basin, the species was then recorded from the south Atlantic, south-east Paci®c Basin, Macquarie Island and the south Indian Ocean.Published as part of Sanamyan, K. E. & Sanamyan, N. P., 2002, Deep-water ascidians from the south-western Atlantic (RV Dmitry Mendeleev, cruise 43 and Academic Kurchatov, cruise 11), pp. 305-359 in Journal of Natural History 36 (3) on page 353, DOI: 10.1080/00222930010004232, http://zenodo.org/record/529967

Fungulus perlucidus

Fungulus perlucidus (Herdman, 1881) Culeolus perlucidus Herdman, 1881: 86. Fungulus perlucidus: Sanamyan and Sanamyan, 1999: 1870 (synonymy). Material examined. St. 870, 4704±4680 m, three specimens; st. 916, 4664±5631 m, two specimens; st. 4109, 5225 m, three specimens. Remarks. The general appearance and internal features of this species are stable, the present specimens are identical to those described in our previous paper (Sanamyan and Sanamyan, 1999).Published as part of Sanamyan, K. E. & Sanamyan, N. P., 2002, Deep-water ascidians from the south-western Atlantic (RV Dmitry Mendeleev, cruise 43 and Academic Kurchatov, cruise 11), pp. 305-359 in Journal of Natural History 36 (3) on page 356, DOI: 10.1080/00222930010004232, http://zenodo.org/record/529967

Molgula millari Kott 1971

<i>Molgula millari</i> Kott, 1971 <p>(®gure 29)</p> <p> <i>Molgula millari</i> Kott, 1971: 70. Monniot and Monniot, 1982: 124.</p> <p> <i>Material examined</i>. St. 4093, 3700±3970 m, one specimen.</p> <p> <i>Description</i>. The oval specimen is about 13 <i>Ö</i> 10 mm. The body is entirely covered by short hair-like processes (less crowded ventrally) with attached sand grains. The apertures are beneath two separate transverse folds of the test, well separated from one other and at opposite ends of the upper surface of the body.</p> <p>The shape of the internal siphons is peculiar: they are short, directed away from each other, and much ¯attened dorso-ventrally, so that it appears as if they consist of a larger dorsal lip and a smaller ventral one. The margins of the siphons are smooth, but a short distance from the margin, inside the siphon, are six long, pointed, tentacle-like outgrowths, corresponding to siphonal lobes of other Molgulidae. They are thin and thread-like in the atrial siphon, while in the branchial siphon the two dorsal ones are much larger than others. The body is entirely enclosed in a layer of thin, circular anastomosing muscle ®bres. About 12±18 thick, internal radial muscles arise from the lateral corners of each aperture and form two isolated muscular areas on each side of the body (®gure 29).</p> <p> About 13 large and medium-sized tentacles, and numerous small crowded tentacles, are on the short muscular velum. The tentacles have branches of the ®rst, second and third orders. The prepharyngea l band is composed of a single, unusually high lamella which makes a deep dorsal V around a minute dorsal tubercle and neural ganglion and continues dorsally into a smooth-edged dorsal lamina. The prepharyngeal band is separated from the ring of tentacles and the perforated part of the pharynx, but longitudinal branchial vessels arise just behind it. The branchial sac has seven high folds consisting only of longitudinal vessels, while the wall of the branchial sac is nearly ¯at. Such a structured branchial sac is more characteristic for <i>Molguloides</i>. There are no longitudinal vessels between the folds. The branchial formula is: E(5)(6) (5) (7)(7)(7) (6)DL (5) (7)(5)(5) (5)(6)(5)E. The stigmata form ¯at interrupted spirals of ®ve to seven coils. Small interstitial spirals are present.</p> <p>The gut forms a narrow, straight primary loop parallel to the endostyle, with the straight rectum bending at a right angle to it. The oesophagus is short and straight, the stomach completely hidden under large, scalloped liver pouches, the anal border is bilobed and smooth-edged. The left gonad is along the descending branch of the primary gut loop, the right is in close contact with the postero-dorsal side of the renal sac. Each gonad consists of a thick, tubular ovary and numerous elongate male follicles, scattered along the ventral side and proximal end. One male opening is on the right gonad and two on the left. They are on the ends of short ducts on the dorsal side of the gonad, some distance from the short terminal oviduct.</p> <p> <i>Remarks</i>. This species was originally described from the south Indian Basin (type locality) and from Tasmania and Macquarie Island. The present specimen was recorded from nearly the same place, and the same depth as Monniot and Monniot’s (1982) four specimens assigned to this species, which are similar to the present one, including the presence of two male papillae on the left gonad. All three specimens described by Kott (1971) have a shorter rectum. It is possible that the Atlantic specimens are distinct from Kott’s species, but at present we are inclined to follow Monniot and Monniot (1982) and identify them as <i>M. millari</i>.</p>Published as part of <i>Sanamyan, K. E. & Sanamyan, N. P., 2002, Deep-water ascidians from the south-western Atlantic (RV Dmitry Mendeleev, cruise 43 and Academic Kurchatov, cruise 11), pp. 305-359 in Journal of Natural History 36 (3)</i> on pages 352-353, DOI: 10.1080/00222930010004232, <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/5299679">http://zenodo.org/record/5299679</a&gt

Octacnemus kottae Sanamyan & Sanamyan 2002, sp. n.

Octacnemus kottae sp. n. (®gures 11, 12A±C) Material examined. St. 874, 3700±3910 m, one specimen. HOLOTYPE KIE 1/1027. Description. The species resembles an enlarged zooid of Octocorallia, rather than an ascidian (®gure 11A). It has a distinct cylindrical peduncle of uniform diameter 8±9 mm and about 3 cm long, and a ¯attened oral disk (5branchial siphon) with a crown of eight triangular lobes. The test is thin and transparent. The peduncle has a tuft of crowded, unbranched hair-like outgrowths at its proximal end to which sand particles are attached. The oral disk is more or less symmetrical. Its central part is almost completely circular, about 15±16 mm in diameter and all eight lobes are of about the same length (14±18 mm), thus the total diameter of the oral disk is about 4.5 cm. The elongate triangular oral lobes have pointed tips, their bases are about half their length. Eight low elevations of the test are on the central part of the disk close to the base of each lobe and with attached sand grains. No structures corresponding to these elevations are on the body wall. The lobes have lateral pinnules, as in O. ingol W Madsen, 1947, about 25±20 on each side. The branchial aperture is close to the dorsal margin of the oral disk. The sessile atrial aperture is a small oval opening on the dorsal surface of the distal half of the peduncle. The body and the test around this aperture are damaged and cannot be examined properly, but apparently there are no atrial lobes or other test outgrowths in this region. The arrangement of muscles on the oral disk is the same as in other species of the genus. The circular muscles are con®ned to the oral lobes and regularly spaced. The radial muscles form short thick bunches between the lobes. There are few, thin and sparse radial muscles on the oral lobes. Most of the surface of the central disk lacks muscles. Thick, short transverse muscles are present on the dorsal side of the body wall between branchial and atrial apertures, and a bunch of thinner longitudinal muscles is present on the right side of the atrial aperture (®gure 11B). Fine circular muscles are around the margin of the atrial opening. The branchial opening continues into the short thick-walled siphon, which opens into the branchial cavity through a high velum. The thick circular muscles of this siphon (®gure 12A) correspond to the circular muscles of the branchial siphon of other ascidians. The test on the internal surface of this siphon has thin but pronounced longitudinal folds. The numerous, crowded, simple branchial tentacles are on the free edge of the velum. The prepharyngeal band is a distinct groove on the epithelium, it is far from the tentacles and makes a well-marked dorsal V. The large oval dorsal tubercle is far anterior from the tip of the dorsal V and has a large oval opening. The small triangular ganglion is close to the dorsal tubercle and anterior to it. The ganglion is relatively super®cial in the body wall and it is seen more readily from the outside the body wall. The dorsal lamina is absent and is replaced by numerous raised, crowded papillae. Similar papillae are also present on both sides of the endostyle and the retropharyngeal groove, and a few are present between the prepharyngeal band and the perforated zone of the branchial sac. The papillae are not present between the prepharyngeal band and the tentacles, or on the perforated part of the branchial sac. The perforated zone occupies a large part of the branchial sac. The perforations are large, 0.25 ±0.5 mm, and formed by a net of intersecting branchial vessels. The vessels are high, ¯attened laterally and more or less straight. They intersect at right angles, and therefore the perforations are more or less rectangular (®gure 12B). Internal organs form a compact visceral mass with a short posterior extension. They are in a poor condition and cannot be examined in detail. In the ®xed specimen the visceral mass occupies only the upper half of the peduncle. Remarks. The present species most closely resembles O. ingol W, especially in the presence of lateral pinnules on the oral lobes. The latter species was originally described from one somewhat damaged specimen from south Greenland. To save that specimen, Madsen (1947) did not dissect it and his description referred mostly to external features, while the internal organs were described only by inspection through the transparent test. Monniot and Monniot (1973) assigned two specimens (one of which was juvenile) from the north-east Atlantic to O. ingol W and provided a detailed description. The Monniots’ specimen corresponds closely to the present one in many features, but diOEers in the structure of the dorsal lamina, which is a main feature distinguishing the two species. This organ was described and ®gured by Monniot and Monniot (1973) as a low continuous plain-edged lamina, and resembles the dorsal lamina of many other ascidians. In the present species such a dorsal lamina is not present, and the mid-dorsal area of the branchial sac is covered by papillae, which are also present on other parts of the branchial sac but were not present in the Monniots’ specimen. There are some diOEerences in the shape of the oral lobes, the shape of the stigmata, the presence of atrial lobes in the north Atlantic specimens, but none of these seem to be really signi®cant. Octacnemus ingol W was further recorded from the north and south Atlantic, Indian Ocean and from the south-western Paci®c, but none of these descriptions referred to internal anatomy of the specimens, and it is possible, that some of these records belong to other species. All the other species of Octacnemus and Polyoctacnemus have no pinnules on the oral lobes and therefore are obviously distinct from O. kottae. Among them O. zarcoi Monniot and Monniot, 1984 resembles the present species in the absence of the dorsal lamina and presence of papillae on the mid-dorsal line of the branchial sac. The structure of the branchial perforations of O. zarcoi is similar, but more complex than the present species. Similar papillae are distributed over the whole inner branchial wall of O. alatus Monniot and Monniot, 1985 but are not present in either O. bythius Moseley, 1876 or O. vinogradovae Sanamyan and Sanamyan, 1999. At our disposal is a ®gure of another specimen of Octacnemus, drawn by Dr N. G. Vinogradova, which has not been published previously (®gure 12D). The caption under the ®gure is: `Octacnemus, empty test (the separated body exists), st. 5612, 8200±8050 m’. This station is from the Kurile-Kamchatka Trench (Situla pelliculosa Vinogradova, 1969 was described from this station). This specimen resembles O. kottae in the presence of pinnules on the oral lobes, shape of the peduncle and position of the sessile atrial opening. Unfortunately we failed to ®nd this specimen in the collection of the Institute of Oceanology. Etymology. The species is named after Dr Patricia Kott.Published as part of Sanamyan, K. E. & Sanamyan, N. P., 2002, Deep-water ascidians from the south-western Atlantic (RV Dmitry Mendeleev, cruise 43 and Academic Kurchatov, cruise 11), pp. 305-359 in Journal of Natural History 36 (3) on pages 322-325, DOI: 10.1080/00222930010004232, http://zenodo.org/record/529967

Culeolus antarcticus Vinogradova 1962

<i>Culeolus antarcticus</i> Vinogradova, 1962 <p>(®gure 24)</p> <p> <i>Culeolus antarcticus</i> Vinogradova, 1962b: 207; Monniot and Monniot, 1982: 117; 1985b: 31. <i>Culeolus sluiteri</i>: Diehl, 1977: 147.</p> <p> <i>Material examined</i>. St. 896, 5651±5530 m, one specimen; st. 925, 2980±2960 m, one specimen; st. 908, 5474±5465 m, one specimen; st. 916, 4664±5631 m, ®ve specimens.</p> <p> <i>Description</i>. The body length is from 10 to 36 mm and all the specimens have broken peduncles. The general body shape is similar in all specimens, the body being elongate and slightly tapering anteriorly. The thin and ®rm test is completely covered by small spherules. A few of these slightly protrude like small papillae, but in a 30 mm specimen from st. 925, the papillae are longer and more numerous, giving the specimen a shaggy appearance. The postero-ventral crest is T-shaped (®gure 24A), it consists of a short mid-ventral branch and two lateral branches running obliquely from the most postero-ventral point of the body and ending some distance from the corners of the slit-like atrial aperture. The lateral branches are straight or their free ends slightly curved dorsally and posteriorly (but not ventrally as ®gured by Vinogradova, 1962b). The mid-ventral branch is absent only in the smallest (10 mm) specimen. The postero-ventral crest has sometimes free papillae, or they are united along most of their length to form a solid lamella. Papillae are arranged in one line in most specimens, but are crowded and form a wide band in the`shaggy’ specimen referred above.</p> <p>About 22 large and heavily branched tentacles are present. In opened specimens they hide the whole prebranchial area and project beyond the rim of the branchial siphon. The branchial sac has usually six folds on each side, but only ®ve on the right side in the 30 mm specimen from st. 908. The branchial formula of the ®gured specimen is: E2(3)2(4)2 (6)4 (7)3(7)4 (4)2DL3(5)5 (4)3(6)3(5)2 (3)1(4)2E.</p> <p>One gonad is present on each side of the body, the left is in the gut loop. Each gonad consists of three to seven lobes; the number of lobes does not necessarily depend on body size as the two smallest specimens (10 and 15 mm long) have seven lobes on the left gonad and three on the right, but the 30 mm specimen has ®ve and four lobes, respectively.</p> <p>The anal border is characteristic, with two ¯at lobes, each with a lobed rim.</p> <p> <i>Remarks</i>. Although the postero-ventral crest may be solid or formed by papillae of various lengths, its general shape is constant and this is a good distinguishing character for the species. On the other hand, the presence or absence of other papillae on the body is variable. The presence of only one, usually long, gonad on each side of the body, and the shape of the anal border are other distinguishing characters.</p> <p> The species was initially described from the Indian sector of the Antarctic and then recorded from the south-east Paci®c and the south-west Atlantic, the Ross Sea; the most northern record is from the Cape Basin (33 <i>ss</i> N). It probably has a periantarcti c distribution.</p> <p>This is the deepest record for this species, the greatest depth previously recorded was 4820 m.</p>Published as part of <i>Sanamyan, K. E. & Sanamyan, N. P., 2002, Deep-water ascidians from the south-western Atlantic (RV Dmitry Mendeleev, cruise 43 and Academic Kurchatov, cruise 11), pp. 305-359 in Journal of Natural History 36 (3)</i> on pages 342-344, DOI: 10.1080/00222930010004232, <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/5299679">http://zenodo.org/record/5299679</a&gt

On authorship of Chilean anemone ‘Bunodactis hermafroditica’ (Cnidaria: Actiniaria) and its generic assignment

Authorship of the species currently known as ‘Bunodactis hermaphroditica’ should be attributed to Carlgren (1959) but not to McMurrich (1904) as commonly maintained. The species belongs to the genus Gyractis and should be cited as Gyractis hermafroditica (Carlgren, 1959).</jats:p