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Pacifigorgia marviva (Anthozoa: Octocorallia) a new species from Coiba National Park, Pacific Panama

2011; Cambridge University Press; Volume: 92; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1017/s0025315411000373

1469-7769

Héctor M. Guzmán, Odalisca Breedy,

Marine Biology and Ecology Research

Pacifigorgia marviva , a new shallow-water species of the family Gorgoniidae, was found in Coiba National Park, Pacific Panama at 35–40 m depth. It is characterized by having white to cream, small, erect colonies composed of 1–4 fronds, stems short or absent network irregular and open without fan midribs, and polyp mounds slightly raised and sparsely distributed. All sclerites are colourless. Coenenchymal sclerites mostly composed of long spindles reaching up to 0.25 mm in length, and long and thin anthocodial rods, up to 0.16 mm in length. Morphological characters are analysed and illustrated. Scanning electron microscopy was used for sclerite study. The new species is herein described and compared with other similar species reported from the eastern Pacific. Pacifigoria marviva increases the number of Pacifigorgia species to 35; 20 in Panama representing 57% of the genus in the eastern Pacific, followed by Costa Rica and Ecuador with 14 and 10 species, respectively.