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New species from the animal and plant kingdoms are discovered and described every day, often after months of field research
This is the idealized, exploratory and 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 to be scientifically described during the Astrolabe expeditions in New Zealand.
Typical of the time, the original description by Quoy & Gaimard is vague and based largely on features 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 lobed and encrusting specimens to this coral.
Consequently, several morphologically distinct forms were identified as possibly belonging to Alcyonium aurantiacum, although they are highly variable in terms of color, colony shape and sclerite morphology.
Dr. Kessel took up this challenge and his work led to the first description of no less than 10 new species, all of which had previously been assigned to Alcyonium aurantiacum.
One of these new species is the soft coral Kotatea kapotaiora
Diagnosis:
The colonies of Kotatea kapotaiora appear laterally compressed with branched lobes, white with white polyps.
The tentacles contain irregular, warty, scale-like sclerites, the polyp neck contains warty rod- and spindle-like sclerites.
The polyp mounds also contain similar shapes as well as thorny and leaf-like clubs. The surface of the lobe contains similar clubs and spiny rays, the latter also being found on the basal surface.
The interior of the lobe and base contains distinct, irregular rays with some thin, spiny, branched processes.
The holotype consists of a white (preserved in ethanol), lobed colony that is laterally compressed.
It is about twice as wide as deep and measures 15 cm in height, 8 cm in width and 3.5 cm in depth.
Lobes arise from a thick stalk up to ~6 cm high and change into slender, finger-like lobes and small lobules.
The polyps grow relatively uniformly over most of the colony but are absent from a short section of the base; they are white, 0.5-1.5 mm in size when expanded.
Etymology
The species name was composed by the Ngāti Kurī Tira Me Te Wā Taiao (Science) Collective and is
a combination of the Māori words kapo, to grasp, tai, the sea or tide, and taiora, nutrients. Ngāti Kurī provided the following kōrero (narrative): "To clutch the sea, to cling to the ocean currents in order to take life-sustaining nutrients from the water. Kapo Taiora shows strength and courage in order to survive the Er punga tū moana (the coral that remains steadfast against all odds)
We must stand up and seize the tides of new knowledge that nature offers us. This tenacity also reminds us that our ancient knowledge of the peoples of the Pacific will never be lost. We must allow the currents of creative thinking to rise up and inspire our whānau (family) to seek knowledge and truth about our science and our world.
Kapo Taiora inspires us all to bring the undiscovered knowledge into reality. Our ancient proverb: "Te au ō te moana ō naianei, nō onamataa'.
The ocean currents of today come from the ancient world.
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 descendants. Furthermore, kota (hardened shell) refers to the substrate on which some colonies grow, while tea (white) refers to the polyps that collectively cling to this foundation, signifying 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)
All known specimens are from shallow depths (-69 m) near the North Cape, Northland, New Zealand.
Literature reference:
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: https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2022.837.1923, URL: http://zoobank.org/7cbac71f-ff75-411c-9ce9-aa633e16438e
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
This is the idealized, exploratory and 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 to be scientifically described during the Astrolabe expeditions in New Zealand.
Typical of the time, the original description by Quoy & Gaimard is vague and based largely on features 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 lobed and encrusting specimens to this coral.
Consequently, several morphologically distinct forms were identified as possibly belonging to Alcyonium aurantiacum, although they are highly variable in terms of color, colony shape and sclerite morphology.
Dr. Kessel took up this challenge and his work led to the first description of no less than 10 new species, all of which had previously been assigned to Alcyonium aurantiacum.
One of these new species is the soft coral Kotatea kapotaiora
Diagnosis:
The colonies of Kotatea kapotaiora appear laterally compressed with branched lobes, white with white polyps.
The tentacles contain irregular, warty, scale-like sclerites, the polyp neck contains warty rod- and spindle-like sclerites.
The polyp mounds also contain similar shapes as well as thorny and leaf-like clubs. The surface of the lobe contains similar clubs and spiny rays, the latter also being found on the basal surface.
The interior of the lobe and base contains distinct, irregular rays with some thin, spiny, branched processes.
The holotype consists of a white (preserved in ethanol), lobed colony that is laterally compressed.
It is about twice as wide as deep and measures 15 cm in height, 8 cm in width and 3.5 cm in depth.
Lobes arise from a thick stalk up to ~6 cm high and change into slender, finger-like lobes and small lobules.
The polyps grow relatively uniformly over most of the colony but are absent from a short section of the base; they are white, 0.5-1.5 mm in size when expanded.
Etymology
The species name was composed by the Ngāti Kurī Tira Me Te Wā Taiao (Science) Collective and is
a combination of the Māori words kapo, to grasp, tai, the sea or tide, and taiora, nutrients. Ngāti Kurī provided the following kōrero (narrative): "To clutch the sea, to cling to the ocean currents in order to take life-sustaining nutrients from the water. Kapo Taiora shows strength and courage in order to survive the Er punga tū moana (the coral that remains steadfast against all odds)
We must stand up and seize the tides of new knowledge that nature offers us. This tenacity also reminds us that our ancient knowledge of the peoples of the Pacific will never be lost. We must allow the currents of creative thinking to rise up and inspire our whānau (family) to seek knowledge and truth about our science and our world.
Kapo Taiora inspires us all to bring the undiscovered knowledge into reality. Our ancient proverb: "Te au ō te moana ō naianei, nō onamataa'.
The ocean currents of today come from the ancient world.
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 descendants. Furthermore, kota (hardened shell) refers to the substrate on which some colonies grow, while tea (white) refers to the polyps that collectively cling to this foundation, signifying 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)
All known specimens are from shallow depths (-69 m) near the North Cape, Northland, New Zealand.
Literature reference:
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: https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2022.837.1923, URL: http://zoobank.org/7cbac71f-ff75-411c-9ce9-aa633e16438e
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
