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Every day new species from the animal and plant kingdoms are discovered and described, often after months of field research.
Thus the idealized, exploratory yet adventurous approach, but, the majority of species discoveries actually occur in the processing of collected specimens in a museum, according to Dr. Gustav M. Kessel of Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, Aotearoa-New Zealand.
The soft coral Alcyonium aurantiacum, known as "Dead man's fingers," was one of the first corals scientifically described during the Astrolabe expeditions to New Zealand.
Typical of the time, the original description by Quoy & Gaimard is vague and based largely on characteristics that have little diagnostic value by today's standards. The only other taxonomic treatment of Alcyonium aurantiacum is the description by Benham (1928), which unfortunately further obscures the diversity of New Zealand coastal soft corals by assigning both lobate and encrusting specimens to this coral.
Consequently, several morphologically distinct forms were identified as possibly belonging to Alcyonium aurantiacum, despite being highly variable in color, colony shape, and sclerite morphology.
Dr. Kessel took on this challenge and his work resulted in an initial description of a whopping 10 new species, all previously assigned to Alcyonium aurantiacum.
One of these new species is the soft coral Kotatea kurakootingotingo.
Etymology
Kotatea is the Māori word for red soft coral and is used as a generic name to honor their original te reo (Māori language) names.
Ko refers to a distant point in time, while tatea means offspring. In addition, kota (hardened shell) refers to the substrate on which some colonies grow, while tea (white) refers to the polyps that cling together to this foundation, illustrating the meaning of whānau (family), unity, and security. Ngāti Kurī deliberated on the appropriateness of this name and provided the following kōrero (narrative): "Kotatea is all about whānau (family).
Etymology:
The species name "kurakootingotingo" was composed by the Ngāti Kurī Tira Me Te Wā Taiao (Science) Collective and is a combination of the Māori words kura, red, and kōtingotingo, spotted.
Note that the "ō" in kōtingotingo is replaced by "oo" to indicate a long vowel without a macron.
Ngāti Kurī supplied the following kōrero (narrative): "The spots of Kura Kōtingotingo are reminiscent of the dots on certain kōwhaiwhai patterns that represent ancestors and are meant to serve as reminders of their whānau (family). The sacred red dots of Kura Kōtingotingo represent the sacred memory of our tūpuna (ancestors) and the legacy they leave us in caring for nature. When they leave the world of the living, their wairua (spirits) rest for a while in Manawatāwhi.
With tears of aroha (love), they look back for a last glimpse of Aotearoa before continuing their journey to Te Ao Wairua (the spirit world), their final resting place. Our tūpuna remain forever etched in our memories. If you look at the kōwhaiwhai patterns on the rafters in our wharenui (meeting house), the dots you see are symbols placed there by the families. Whakapapa (genealogy) is celebrated in our rafter patterns. Look back at all our dots and enjoy the interconnectedness of whānau and whakapapa. Whakapapa is our map of infinite connectedness to our tūpuna and our taiao (natural world), connected to our spiritual realm."
Colonies of Kotatea kurakootingotingo are strongly lobed and orange with distinct red or dark orange spots, the polyps are white.
The tentacles contain irregular, warty, scale-like sclerites. The polyp neck contains warty, rod-like forms, the polyp mound contain similar sclerites as well as conical clubs, spindle-shaped, rod-like and oval forms with warts in the girdles.
The surface of the lobes and base contains similar sclerites, but no well-developed clubs.
The base also contains spheroids, some clubs, and gradations between radial and oval or rod-shaped forms with tubercle girdles and occasionally a narrow waist.
The interior of the lobes and base contains highly sculptured rod-like, spindle-like, and oval shapes with complex warty girdles, with spheroids especially common in the interior of the base.
Literature finding::
Kessel, Gustav M., Alderslade, Philip, Bilewitch, Jaret P., Schnabel, Kareen E., Norman, Jerry, Potts, Romana Tekaharoa, Gardner, Jonathan P.A. (2022):
Dead man's fingers point to new taxa: two new genera of New Zealand soft corals (Anthozoa, Octocorallia) and a revision of Alcyonium aurantiacum Quoy & Gaimard, 1833
European Journal of Taxonomy 837: 1-85, DOI: doi.org, URL: zoobank.org
creativecommons.org
Thus the idealized, exploratory yet adventurous approach, but, the majority of species discoveries actually occur in the processing of collected specimens in a museum, according to Dr. Gustav M. Kessel of Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, Aotearoa-New Zealand.
The soft coral Alcyonium aurantiacum, known as "Dead man's fingers," was one of the first corals scientifically described during the Astrolabe expeditions to New Zealand.
Typical of the time, the original description by Quoy & Gaimard is vague and based largely on characteristics that have little diagnostic value by today's standards. The only other taxonomic treatment of Alcyonium aurantiacum is the description by Benham (1928), which unfortunately further obscures the diversity of New Zealand coastal soft corals by assigning both lobate and encrusting specimens to this coral.
Consequently, several morphologically distinct forms were identified as possibly belonging to Alcyonium aurantiacum, despite being highly variable in color, colony shape, and sclerite morphology.
Dr. Kessel took on this challenge and his work resulted in an initial description of a whopping 10 new species, all previously assigned to Alcyonium aurantiacum.
One of these new species is the soft coral Kotatea kurakootingotingo.
Etymology
Kotatea is the Māori word for red soft coral and is used as a generic name to honor their original te reo (Māori language) names.
Ko refers to a distant point in time, while tatea means offspring. In addition, kota (hardened shell) refers to the substrate on which some colonies grow, while tea (white) refers to the polyps that cling together to this foundation, illustrating the meaning of whānau (family), unity, and security. Ngāti Kurī deliberated on the appropriateness of this name and provided the following kōrero (narrative): "Kotatea is all about whānau (family).
Etymology:
The species name "kurakootingotingo" was composed by the Ngāti Kurī Tira Me Te Wā Taiao (Science) Collective and is a combination of the Māori words kura, red, and kōtingotingo, spotted.
Note that the "ō" in kōtingotingo is replaced by "oo" to indicate a long vowel without a macron.
Ngāti Kurī supplied the following kōrero (narrative): "The spots of Kura Kōtingotingo are reminiscent of the dots on certain kōwhaiwhai patterns that represent ancestors and are meant to serve as reminders of their whānau (family). The sacred red dots of Kura Kōtingotingo represent the sacred memory of our tūpuna (ancestors) and the legacy they leave us in caring for nature. When they leave the world of the living, their wairua (spirits) rest for a while in Manawatāwhi.
With tears of aroha (love), they look back for a last glimpse of Aotearoa before continuing their journey to Te Ao Wairua (the spirit world), their final resting place. Our tūpuna remain forever etched in our memories. If you look at the kōwhaiwhai patterns on the rafters in our wharenui (meeting house), the dots you see are symbols placed there by the families. Whakapapa (genealogy) is celebrated in our rafter patterns. Look back at all our dots and enjoy the interconnectedness of whānau and whakapapa. Whakapapa is our map of infinite connectedness to our tūpuna and our taiao (natural world), connected to our spiritual realm."
Colonies of Kotatea kurakootingotingo are strongly lobed and orange with distinct red or dark orange spots, the polyps are white.
The tentacles contain irregular, warty, scale-like sclerites. The polyp neck contains warty, rod-like forms, the polyp mound contain similar sclerites as well as conical clubs, spindle-shaped, rod-like and oval forms with warts in the girdles.
The surface of the lobes and base contains similar sclerites, but no well-developed clubs.
The base also contains spheroids, some clubs, and gradations between radial and oval or rod-shaped forms with tubercle girdles and occasionally a narrow waist.
The interior of the lobes and base contains highly sculptured rod-like, spindle-like, and oval shapes with complex warty girdles, with spheroids especially common in the interior of the base.
Literature finding::
Kessel, Gustav M., Alderslade, Philip, Bilewitch, Jaret P., Schnabel, Kareen E., Norman, Jerry, Potts, Romana Tekaharoa, Gardner, Jonathan P.A. (2022):
Dead man's fingers point to new taxa: two new genera of New Zealand soft corals (Anthozoa, Octocorallia) and a revision of Alcyonium aurantiacum Quoy & Gaimard, 1833
European Journal of Taxonomy 837: 1-85, DOI: doi.org, URL: zoobank.org
creativecommons.org
