Rohleder
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Alcyonium verseveldti (Benayahu, 1982)
This extremely nicely colored soft coral has been submitted by Christian Spreyer who asked us to identify it. It is being called blue Sympodium sp. in the USA. If it truly is in this or another xeniid genus we cannot say for sure.
We don't have much information on aquarium husbandry, but apparently its growth and requirements are similar to other xeniid species or clove polyps and it can be propagated by fragmentation.
Etymology:
The genus name "Ofwegenum" (gender: neuter) honors the late Dr. Leendert Pieter van Ofwegen (1953-2021), a close friend and important octocoral taxonomist (Hoeksema 2021), in memory of his fruitful contribution to the knowledge of this group.
Etymology: The species name "verseveldti" honors the biologist Dr. Jakob Verseveldt (1903 - 1987), Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, Netherlands.
Color:
In life, the coenenchyma of the soft coral is a unique dark blue. The extensive polyps are pale blue with brown pinnae, reflecting the presence of symbiotic algae.
The colony preserved in ethanol is creamy yellow, and the tentacles are pale cream in color.
The holotype is a capitate colony with a diameter of 11 mm and a stalk about 14 mm high.
The contracted polyps form conical or dome-shaped mounds, and the distal ends of some tentacles protrude from them.
The polyp body contains similar but shorter sclerites, up to 0.45 mm long, which appear to be arranged "en chevron" when the polyp is extended.
The size of the sclerites decreases along the polyp body towards the base of the tentacles.
Literature reference:
McFadden CS, Benayahu Y, Samimi-Namin K (2024) A new genus of soft coral (Octocorallia, Malacalcyonacea, Cladiellidae) and three new species from Indo-Pacific coral reefs. ZooKeys 1188: 275-304. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1188.110617
Synonym:
Metalcyonium verseveldi
This extremely nicely colored soft coral has been submitted by Christian Spreyer who asked us to identify it. It is being called blue Sympodium sp. in the USA. If it truly is in this or another xeniid genus we cannot say for sure.
We don't have much information on aquarium husbandry, but apparently its growth and requirements are similar to other xeniid species or clove polyps and it can be propagated by fragmentation.
Etymology:
The genus name "Ofwegenum" (gender: neuter) honors the late Dr. Leendert Pieter van Ofwegen (1953-2021), a close friend and important octocoral taxonomist (Hoeksema 2021), in memory of his fruitful contribution to the knowledge of this group.
Etymology: The species name "verseveldti" honors the biologist Dr. Jakob Verseveldt (1903 - 1987), Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, Netherlands.
Color:
In life, the coenenchyma of the soft coral is a unique dark blue. The extensive polyps are pale blue with brown pinnae, reflecting the presence of symbiotic algae.
The colony preserved in ethanol is creamy yellow, and the tentacles are pale cream in color.
The holotype is a capitate colony with a diameter of 11 mm and a stalk about 14 mm high.
The contracted polyps form conical or dome-shaped mounds, and the distal ends of some tentacles protrude from them.
The polyp body contains similar but shorter sclerites, up to 0.45 mm long, which appear to be arranged "en chevron" when the polyp is extended.
The size of the sclerites decreases along the polyp body towards the base of the tentacles.
Literature reference:
McFadden CS, Benayahu Y, Samimi-Namin K (2024) A new genus of soft coral (Octocorallia, Malacalcyonacea, Cladiellidae) and three new species from Indo-Pacific coral reefs. ZooKeys 1188: 275-304. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1188.110617
Synonym:
Metalcyonium verseveldi
