Blastopathes medusa gen. nov., sp. nov., a newly introduced black coral, Based on morphological and molecular data described from Kimbe Bay in Papua New Guinea. Black corals (Anthozoa: Antipatharia) are colonial hexacorallians that inhabit all oceans and marine habitats from shallow water to depths of at least 8,600 m. The Blastopathes assigned to Antipathidae is a large, mythical type of black coral that is characterized by elongated stem-like branches.
Black corals are characterized by polyps with six tentacles and a microscopic spine along a skeleton composed of chitin and scleroproteins. The majority of the 45 genera occur beyond 50 m depth (more than the recreational SCUBA diving depth). Therefore, collecting and conducting in-situ experiments on black corals is quite difficult. Black corals have few and variable morphological features, leading to uncertainty about the number of existing species, their distribution, and phylogenetic relationships within the order.
Due to the many challenges associated with black coral sampling and identification, the research team was often ignored during exploratory expeditions. The team discovered large, myth-inspiring black corals that have not been reported by researchers, at the first visit to Kimbe Bay in 2018. In this study, researchers integrate morphological and molecular data to compare the Blastopathes gen. nov., sp. nov. with other black coral genera to formally describe the new genus based on the new species Blastopathes medusa.
Successful reconstruction of the evolutionary origins of Anthozoa, with the inclusion of a number of black coral specimens done by the targeted capture of UCE/exon loci. An enhanced bait set was designed to increase capture efficiency when targeting members of the Subclass Hexcorallia afterward. The results of the researchers show that much about black coral biodiversity remains to be discovered, even in relatively shallow and well-explored habitats such as Kimbe Bay in Papua New Guinea.
Morphologically distinct branch clusters of Blastopathes that form on the stem and branches, as well as its molecular affinity to members in the Antipathidae, reasons to place in the Antipathidae. However, it is not yet clear what morphological features represent the taxonomic boundaries within the new genus. To better understand the evolutionary history of branching, it will be interesting to consider its long and sparsely branching characteristics and determine whether Blastopathes have non-branching ancestors.
There are a number of species with greater molecular affinity to the new species not included in this study. Finally, the researchers mention here the need of comparison of the morphological features and associated UCE/exon data between and within all black coral species.
If you are interested to read more on this research, you can find the full research article in here
Cover Photo – Horowitz, Brugler, Bridge & Cowman, 2020
