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Boninastrea

Yabe and Sugiyama, 1935, p. 402

Type Species

Boninastrea boninensis Yabe and Sugiyama, 1935, p. 402, pl. 2, fig. 1,2; Monotypy Yabe and Sugiyama, 1935: 402

Type Specimen: Holotype; TIUS 44970; Verified; Dry Preserved

Type Locality: Futami-wan, Titi-zima, Ogasawara Islands (Recent)

Classification

Diagnosis

Colonial, with intracalicular budding only. Corallites monomorphic and uniserial; monticules absent. Walls fused. Calice width medium (4–15 mm), with medium relief (3–6 mm). Costosepta confluent. Septa in < 3 cycles (< 24 septa). Free septa present but irregular. Septa spaced 6–11 septa per 5 mm. Costosepta unequal in relative thickness. Columellae trabecular but compact (1–3 threads) or absent, < 1/4 of calice width, and continuous among adjacent corallites. Paliform (uniaxial) lobes weak or absent. Epitheca well developed and endotheca abundant (vesicular).

Description

'Corallum compound, massive; calicular surface strongly convex. Epitheca indicated by fine ringlets of growth, thin, conspicuous, covering almost entirely underside. Calices numerous, subpolygonal, irregular in shape and arrangement oblique; usually one to three or more in number circumscribed in group by incomplete, oblique collines. Occasionally several of the groups are further bounded by prominent, incomplete, oblique ridges. In each group calices connected by trabecular bridges instead of toothed lamellae. Septa not numerous, up to three cycles, those of the first and some of the second cycles more stout and more prominent than others; their free ends strongly divided in irregular manner, to filiform processes. Surface of septa minutely granulated. Columella absent? Dissepiments numerous, vesicular. Growth by fission.' (Yabe and Sugiyama, 1935: 402)

Comparisons

In comparison with genera that have been in Merulinidae before Budd et al. (2012), it does not appear to share the small calice width, low relief, equal costosepta thickness, well-developed paliform lobes, absence of epitheca and sparse endotheca with Merulina and Scapophyllia. Its size and lack of lobes are akin to most Hydnophora spp., and the 'prominent, incomplete, oblique ridges' are analogous to monticules of Hydnophora, but homology cannot be ascertained without further sampling.

Remarks

Boninastrea Yabe and Sugiyama, 1935: 402 is a monotypic genus that has only been collected twice, once each in Japan (type locality) and Indonesia, and never for molecular analysis. We do not have sufficient data to place it on the tree, but note that it has been described as a 'mussoid [sic] coral, recalling Symphyllia and Isophyllia in general feature' (Yabe and Sugiyama, 1935: 402), but later placed in Merulinidae (prior to Budd et al., 2012) by Veron (1986: 594), Best and Suharsono (1991: 339) and Veron (2000, vol. 3: 382).

Distribution

  • Western Pacific; Recent
Boninastrea is known only from its type locality, the Ogasawara Islands of Japan, as well as Sumbawa (Best and Suharsono, 1991), Gulf of Tomini, Banda Sea and the Moluccas of Indonesia.

This page has been in preparation since 18-Jul-2010 20:39

This version was contributed by Danwei Huang on 05-Feb-2014 19:23.

Page authors are: Ann Budd Danwei Huang. Please contact the editor if you would like to contribute to the diagnosis of this taxon.

The editor is: Ann Budd


Holotype of Boninastrea boninensis
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