Altumia delicata

Diagnosis. The ethanol-preserved holotype is comprised of thin patches of short stolon-like crusts growing over the dead branch of a black coral (Antipatharia) (Figure 2 A), almost invisible to the naked eye. The milky-white, thin (<0.5 mm) crusts are a few mm long (Figure 2 B), very soft, almost slime-like. Polyps completely retracted and practically invisible in the preserved colonies. No sclerites observed in any part of the colony. When alive, the delicate, semi-transparent expanded polyps are distinct and are up to 20 mm long, featuring eight pinnate tentacles (Figure 3 A). The ROV photographs indicate that the colonies commonly grow on dead black corals; the latter may reach a large size (~ 45 cm in length) and can be predominantly fouled by A. delicata (Figure 3 B). Interestingly, debris, such as PVC net found at a depth of 100 m, was found to be colonized by this octocoral (Figure 3 C).

Etymology. The species name is formed from the Latin ' delicata ', delicate, referring to the fine texture of the colonies and their polyps. Gender female.