First record of Viminella sp. (Anthozoa: Alcyonacea: Ellisellidae) in the Persian Gulf

Abstract

This paper presents the first record ofViminellaGray 1870 from the Persian Gulf. This genus has a global distribution and its largest distribution is in the Indo-Pacific region. A single specimen was collected by a local fisherman from south Hengam Island (the north Persian Gulf) from 60-70 m depth. Colony morphology characteristics were examined by stereomicroscope and optical microscope. Descriptions of the colony and other taxonomic characteristics are provided. The colony is unbranched with a height of 12 cm and its basal diameter is approximately 1.63 mm. The sclerites of the coenenchyme comprise a variety of symmetrical double heads and capstan-like forms (0.05-0.11 mm). In the wall of calyces, slightly elongated double heads, capstans and spindles (about 0.08-0.19 mm) are present. Our finding extends the known geographical distribution of this genus in the Indo-Pacific region to the Persian Gulf.

Species composition and distribution of Alcyonacea (Octocorallia) in the northern Persian Gulf

“…To date, most studies of the biodiversity of coral reefs on the Iranian shores of the Persian Gulf have been related to the order Scleractinia (Rezai & Savari, 2004; Rezai et al ., 2010; Samiei et al ., 2013; Salimi et al ., 2018) and other hexacorals (Koupaei et al ., 2014, 2016; Darvishi et al ., 2018). However, there have been a few studies on order Alcyonaria (Samimi-Namin & van Ofwegen, 2009; Shahbazi et al ., 2019) that address their taxonomy. More than 19 genera in nine families of Octocorallia (Samimi-Namin & van Ofwegen, 2009, 2012) have been described from the Persian Gulf to date.…”