Zoantharia (Cnidaria: Hexacorallia) of the Dutch Caribbean and One New Species of Parazoanthus

Javier Montenegro,Bert W Hoeksema,Maria E A Santos,Hiroki Kise,James Davis Reimer

doi:10.3390/d12050190

Javier Montenegro, Bert W Hoeksema + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/d12050190

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Abstract

Species of the anthozoan order Zoantharia (=Zoanthidea) are common components of subtropical and tropical shallow water coral reefs. Despite a long history of research on their species diversity in the Caribbean, many regions within this sea remain underexamined. One such region is the Dutch Caribbean, including the islands of St. Eustatius, St. Maarten, Saba, Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao, as well as the Saba Bank, for which no definitive species list exists. Here, combining examinations of specimens housed in the Naturalis Biodiversity Center collection with new specimens and records from field expeditions, we provide a list of zoantharian species found within the Dutch Caribbean. Our results demonstrate the presence at least 16 described species, including the newly described Parazoanthus atlanticus, and the additional potential presence of up to four undescribed species. These records of new and undescribed species demonstrate that although the zoantharian research history of the Caribbean is long, further discoveries remain to be found. In light of biodiversity loss and increasing anthropogenic pressure on declining coral reefs, documenting the diversity of zoantharians and other coral reef species to provide baseline data takes on a new urgency.

Highlights

Zoantharians (Anthozoa, Hexacorallia, Zoantharia) are commonly observed rock and reef-dwelling benthic organisms in the Caribbean and other subtropical to tropical regions of the Atlantic
479 zoantharian specimens were analyzed in this study (Table S1), including 181 specimens belonging to the Naturalis collections (60 from the Porifera collection, 121 from the Coelenterata collection including 6 specimens were collected in Curaçao by the second author from the shallow and deep sea in 2014), and 298 to the Molecular Invertebrate Systematics and Ecology Laboratory (MISE) collection
For each species listed in the Results, we have included a description following as close as possible the original description, with some small amendments to reflect additional information acquired after the first formal description. These descriptions should not be interpreted as formal descriptions, to the exception of the one new species we describe here, but as information provided to workers to aid in field identification and to make the original descriptions accessible

Summary

Introduction

Zoantharians (Anthozoa, Hexacorallia, Zoantharia) are commonly observed rock and reef-dwelling benthic organisms in the Caribbean and other subtropical to tropical regions of the Atlantic. Detailed information about the diversity of the zoantharian fauna at species level has been reported from various parts of the Atlantic Ocean and adjacent seas, some records may not be complete or taxonomically not up to date anymore. 13 species have been recorded from the coastline of Brazil [1], 11 from of the Gulf of Mexico [2], 10 from the Bahamas and Florida [3], 8 from the Cape Verde islands in the eastern Atlantic [4] and Saint Helena Island [5], 7 from Bermuda [6], 7 from the Mediterranean [7], 5 in Canary Islands [8], and 4 from Ascension Island in the central Atlantic [9]. Five deep-water species from the Azores (eastern Atlantic) were described [10,11]. Detailed data with accurate species identifications, the basis of large-scale biodiversity analyses, are still needed from most regions of the Atlantic

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