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Corymbophyton

Corymbophyton

Mcfadden & Van Ofwegen, 2017

GBIF:137679945

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Descriptions(4)

Diagnosis. As for the family.
Mcfadden, Catherine S., Van Ofwegen, Leen P. (2017): Revisionary systematics of the endemic soft coral fauna (Octocorallia: Alcyonacea: Alcyoniina) of the Agulhas Bioregion, South Africa. Zootaxa 4363 (4): 451-488, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4363.4.1
Remarks. Corymbophyton n. gen. shares its unique colony growth form, in which polyps are fused only along the proximal half of their length, with Protodendron repens (Thomson & Henderson). In that genus, however, clubs are absent, and the only sclerite forms found in the polyps and stolon are spindles and rods (Bayer 1995). DNA sequences from P. repens (ZMTAU CO 36002) suggest that it is not close to P. bruuni phylogenetically, and its familial affiliation is unclear. It does not belong to the same clade as Acrophytidae n. fam. and Leptophytidae n. fam. (Fig. 1). These differences justify the establishment of a new genus for P. bruuni.
Mcfadden, Catherine S., Van Ofwegen, Leen P. (2017): Revisionary systematics of the endemic soft coral fauna (Octocorallia: Alcyonacea: Alcyoniina) of the Agulhas Bioregion, South Africa. Zootaxa 4363 (4): 451-488, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4363.4.1
Etymology. From the Greek korymbos, a cluster of flowers, and phyton, a creature (plant or animal), denoting the arrangement of polyps in small clusters that arise from a common stolon. Gender: neutral.
Mcfadden, Catherine S., Van Ofwegen, Leen P. (2017): Revisionary systematics of the endemic soft coral fauna (Octocorallia: Alcyonacea: Alcyoniina) of the Agulhas Bioregion, South Africa. Zootaxa 4363 (4): 451-488, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4363.4.1
Type species. Protodendron bruuni Bayer, 1995 by original designation
Mcfadden, Catherine S., Van Ofwegen, Leen P. (2017): Revisionary systematics of the endemic soft coral fauna (Octocorallia: Alcyonacea: Alcyoniina) of the Agulhas Bioregion, South Africa. Zootaxa 4363 (4): 451-488, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4363.4.1

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FIGURE 1. Maximum likelihood phylogeny of Octocorallia based on combined, partitioned analysis of 28S rDNA, COI and 16S mtDNA.South African species and clades are identified in blue. Filled circles indicate nodes with>70% bootstrap support and Bayesian posterior probabilities>0.95 (shown for South African clades only). Strongly supported clades (bootstrap 70%) with no South African members have been collapsed to facilitate readability. Phylogenetic position of Protodendron repens indicated with *.

Imageimage/png© Mcfadden, Catherine S.;Van Ofwegen, Leen P.Mcfadden, Catherine S.;Van Ofwegen, Leen P.

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Revisionary systematics of the endemic soft coral fauna (Octocorallia: Alcyonacea: Alcyoniina) of the Agulhas Bioregion, South Africa

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This dataset contains the digitized treatments in Plazi based on the original journal article Mcfadden, Catherine S., Van Ofwegen, Leen P. (2017): Revisionary systematics of the endemic soft coral fauna (Octocorallia: Alcyonacea: Alcyoniina) of the Agulhas Bioregion, South Africa. Zootaxa 4363 (4): 451-488, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4363.4.1

Abstract

The Agulhas Bioregion of southern South Africa supports a unique octocoral fauna that is entirely endemic to the region. Recent molecular phylogenetic studies indicate that this endemism extends to deeper taxonomic levels than had previously been recognized, and that most of these endemic species belong to genera and families that are also endemic to South Africa. Here we revise the taxonomy of soft corals (subordinal group Alcyoniina) that were previously assigned to the cosmopolitan families Alcyoniidae, Nephtheidae and Nidaliidae, describing three new families endemic to South Africa, along with four new genera and four new species. We reassign the endemic genera Acrophytum, Pieterfaurea and Lampophyton to Acrophytidae n. fam, and describe a new species of Lampophyton, L. spinatum n. sp. The endemic species Protodendron bruuni is reassigned to a new, monotypic genus, Corymbophyton bruuni n. comb., and family, Corymbophytidae n. fam. The endemic genus Leptophyton is placed in a third new family, Leptophytidae n. fam., along with three new genera that are established for species previously assigned to Alcyonium: Circularius wilsoni n. comb., Porphyrophyton distinctum n. comb., and Tenerodus fallax n. comb. In addition, we describe new species of Leptophyton, L. fustis n. sp.; Tenerodus, T. pollex n. gen. n. sp.; and Alcyonium, A. dolium n. sp.; reassign Protodendron verseveldti to Tenerodus verseveldti n. comb.; and reassign the endemic genus Dimorphophyton to family Paralcyoniidae. Although molecular phylogenetic analyses unite Acrophytidae, Corymbophytidae and Leptophytidae within a well-supported monophyletic group, both morphological and molecular distinctions support maintaining them as three separate families. These revisions increase the number of endemic species of shallow-water soft corals known from the Agulhas Bioregion to 40, and the number of endemic genera to 13.

Key words: molecular phylogenetics, Acrophytum, Alcyonium, Dimorphophyton, Lampophyton, Leptophyton, Pieterfaurea, Protodendron

Mcfadden C S, Van Ofwegen L P, plazi (2017). Revisionary systematics of the endemic soft coral fauna (Octocorallia: Alcyonacea: Alcyoniina) of the Agulhas Bioregion, South Africa. Plazi.org taxonomic treatments database. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4363.4.1 accessed via GBIF.org on 2026-06-16.

CC0Published 12/13/2017View dataset
GBIF Usage Key
137679945
Dataset Key
a141fa76-cc88-4901-944a-306171e41413
Origin
source
Backbone Key
9568804
Taxon ID
038A07766C052875FF245CEEFBCA4C14.taxon
Last Crawled
6/10/2026
Last Interpreted
6/10/2026