Description

“Eguchipsammia, gen. nov.

 

Dendrophyllia (Alcockia) Eguchi, 1968:C63 [junior homonym].

 

DIAGNOSIS.—Unattached, recumbent coralla formed through sparse extratentacular (rarely intratentacular) budding from a predominant axial corallite, only rarely with third generation buds present on a colony. Synapticulothecate: costate and/or epithecate. Septa arranged in a Pourtalès Plan. Pali absent; columella spongy.

 

TYPE SPECIES.—Dendrophyllia cornucopia Pourtales, 1871, here designated.

 

DISCUSSION.—Six species are assigned to the genus Eguchipsammia: E. gaditana (Duncan, 1873); E. cornucopia (Pourtales, 1871); E. fistula (Alcock, 1902); E. serpentina (Vaughan, 1907); E. oahensis (Vaughan, 1907); and E. wellsi (Eguchi, 1968). The genus is characterized by having a free (unattached), recumbent corallum with a variable number of asexually generated buds attached to the theca. Because the buds often become free of the parent corallum, these species are not considered as a true Dendrophyllia, but because the buds are temporarily part of the corallum, these taxa cannot be considered as Balanophyllia. As Eguchi (1968) stated in his discussion of the subgenus Alcockia, it "has intermediate characters between Balanophyllia and Dendrophyllia." Because the species of Eguchipsammia have a different reproductive mode than either Balanophyllia of Dendrophyllia and because they are free-living, which would also have ecological consequences, a new genus is proposed.

 

ETYMOLOGY.—Eguchi (1968) was the first to suggest a supraspecific name for those species having the abovementioned characteristics, i.e., Alcockia, but that name was preoccupied by Goode and Beane (1896) for a genus of fish. The genus is thus renamed in honor of Motoki Eguchi (1905-1978). Gender: feminine.

 

DISTRIBUTION.—Miocene (Cairns and Wells, 1987) to Recent. Living species circumtropical to warm temperate in western Pacific; 34-960 m.”

 

(Cairns, 1994)