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East of the island of Desecheo, Puerto Rico, in the Mona Passage, which connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Caribbean Sea, a new black coral was discovered with the help of the ROV SuBastian, which led to the establishment of a new coral family, the Ameripathidae.
This new family is similar to the Myriopathidae and Stylopathidae families in terms of polyp and tentacle morphology and the feathery branching of the corallum.
Phylogenetic analyses proved that the new family belongs to a clade containing the Myriopathidae, Stylopathidae, Antipathidae and Aphanipathidae.
The polyps of Ameripathes pseudomyriophylla are white in situ, the actual size of the holotype with 100cm and 75cm width could only be estimated, a clue was the piece collected for examination, which was 19cm in size, as well as the evaluation of video recordings.
The coral has a distinct fan shape, ideal for catching drifting plankton and marine snow.
Etymology
According to Article 11.3 of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, the name of the genus Ameripathes can be considered an arbitrary combination of letters; however, it is loosely derived from "americana", referring to the early association of this taxon with Antipathes americana Duchassaing and Michellotti and the commonly used suffix - "pathes".
Literature reference:
Horowitz J, Opresko DM, Herrera S, Hansel CM, Quattrini AM (2024)
Ameripathidae, a new family of antipatharian corals (Cnidaria, Anthozoa, Hexacorallia, Antipatharia).
ZooKeys 1203: 355-375. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1203.121411
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the CC0 Public Domain Dedication.
This new family is similar to the Myriopathidae and Stylopathidae families in terms of polyp and tentacle morphology and the feathery branching of the corallum.
Phylogenetic analyses proved that the new family belongs to a clade containing the Myriopathidae, Stylopathidae, Antipathidae and Aphanipathidae.
The polyps of Ameripathes pseudomyriophylla are white in situ, the actual size of the holotype with 100cm and 75cm width could only be estimated, a clue was the piece collected for examination, which was 19cm in size, as well as the evaluation of video recordings.
The coral has a distinct fan shape, ideal for catching drifting plankton and marine snow.
Etymology
According to Article 11.3 of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, the name of the genus Ameripathes can be considered an arbitrary combination of letters; however, it is loosely derived from "americana", referring to the early association of this taxon with Antipathes americana Duchassaing and Michellotti and the commonly used suffix - "pathes".
Literature reference:
Horowitz J, Opresko DM, Herrera S, Hansel CM, Quattrini AM (2024)
Ameripathidae, a new family of antipatharian corals (Cnidaria, Anthozoa, Hexacorallia, Antipatharia).
ZooKeys 1203: 355-375. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1203.121411
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the CC0 Public Domain Dedication.
