The First Deep-Sea Stylasterid (Hydrozoa, Stylasteridae) of the Red Sea

Davide Maggioni; Tullia I. Terraneo; Giovanni Chimienti; Fabio Marchese; Daniela Pica; Stephen D. Cairns; Ameer A. Eweida; Mattie Rodrigue; Sam J. Purkis; Francesca Benzoni

doi:10.3390/d14040241

The First Deep-Sea Stylasterid (Hydrozoa, Stylasteridae) of the Red Sea

Davide Maggioni^*, Tullia I. Terraneo, Giovanni Chimienti, Fabio Marchese, Daniela Pica, Stephen D. Cairns, Ameer A. Eweida, Mattie Rodrigue, Sam J. Purkis, Francesca Benzoni

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

7 Scopus citations

Abstract

The Stylasteridae, commonly known as lace corals, is a family of colonial calcifying hydrozoans mostly inhabiting deep waters. Stylasterids show a cosmopolitan distribution but, in some areas, they are characterized by low species diversity, such as in the Red Sea, where only a shallow-water species has been reported so far. With this work, we provide the first evidence of a deep-sea stylasterid inhabiting the NEOM region in the northern Saudi Arabian Red Sea, at depths ranging between 166 and 492 m. Morphological examinations revealed that this species was previously unknown and belonging to the genus Stylaster. We, therefore, describe Stylaster tritoni sp. nov., representing the first record of the genus in the Red Sea. Lastly, the phylogenetic position of the species within the Stylasteridae was evaluated, revealing a close relationship with shallow-water Indo-Pacific and Western Atlantic Stylaster species and confirming the polyphyletic nature of the genus Stylaster.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	241
Journal	Diversity
Volume	14
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3390/d14040241
State	Published - Apr 2022

Keywords

lace coral
new record
new species
phylogeny
Stylaster
Stylaster tritoni

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Ecology
Ecological Modeling
Agricultural and Biological Sciences (miscellaneous)
Nature and Landscape Conservation

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10.3390/d14040241

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title = "The First Deep-Sea Stylasterid (Hydrozoa, Stylasteridae) of the Red Sea",

abstract = "The Stylasteridae, commonly known as lace corals, is a family of colonial calcifying hydrozoans mostly inhabiting deep waters. Stylasterids show a cosmopolitan distribution but, in some areas, they are characterized by low species diversity, such as in the Red Sea, where only a shallow-water species has been reported so far. With this work, we provide the first evidence of a deep-sea stylasterid inhabiting the NEOM region in the northern Saudi Arabian Red Sea, at depths ranging between 166 and 492 m. Morphological examinations revealed that this species was previously unknown and belonging to the genus Stylaster. We, therefore, describe Stylaster tritoni sp. nov., representing the first record of the genus in the Red Sea. Lastly, the phylogenetic position of the species within the Stylasteridae was evaluated, revealing a close relationship with shallow-water Indo-Pacific and Western Atlantic Stylaster species and confirming the polyphyletic nature of the genus Stylaster.",

keywords = "lace coral, new record, new species, phylogeny, Stylaster, Stylaster tritoni",

author = "Davide Maggioni and Terraneo, {Tullia I.} and Giovanni Chimienti and Fabio Marchese and Daniela Pica and Cairns, {Stephen D.} and Eweida, {Ameer A.} and Mattie Rodrigue and Purkis, {Sam J.} and Francesca Benzoni",

note = "Funding Information: This work was supported by KAUST (FCC/1/1973-50-01, FCC/1/1973-49-01, and baseline research funds to F. Benzoni). G. Chimienti was supported by the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research (PON 2014–2020, Grant AIM 1807508-1, Linea 1). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.",

year = "2022",

month = apr,

doi = "10.3390/d14040241",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "14",

journal = "Diversity",

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AU - Maggioni, Davide

AU - Terraneo, Tullia I.

AU - Chimienti, Giovanni

AU - Marchese, Fabio

AU - Pica, Daniela

AU - Cairns, Stephen D.

AU - Eweida, Ameer A.

AU - Rodrigue, Mattie

AU - Purkis, Sam J.

AU - Benzoni, Francesca

N1 - Funding Information: This work was supported by KAUST (FCC/1/1973-50-01, FCC/1/1973-49-01, and baseline research funds to F. Benzoni). G. Chimienti was supported by the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research (PON 2014–2020, Grant AIM 1807508-1, Linea 1). Publisher Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

PY - 2022/4

Y1 - 2022/4

N2 - The Stylasteridae, commonly known as lace corals, is a family of colonial calcifying hydrozoans mostly inhabiting deep waters. Stylasterids show a cosmopolitan distribution but, in some areas, they are characterized by low species diversity, such as in the Red Sea, where only a shallow-water species has been reported so far. With this work, we provide the first evidence of a deep-sea stylasterid inhabiting the NEOM region in the northern Saudi Arabian Red Sea, at depths ranging between 166 and 492 m. Morphological examinations revealed that this species was previously unknown and belonging to the genus Stylaster. We, therefore, describe Stylaster tritoni sp. nov., representing the first record of the genus in the Red Sea. Lastly, the phylogenetic position of the species within the Stylasteridae was evaluated, revealing a close relationship with shallow-water Indo-Pacific and Western Atlantic Stylaster species and confirming the polyphyletic nature of the genus Stylaster.

AB - The Stylasteridae, commonly known as lace corals, is a family of colonial calcifying hydrozoans mostly inhabiting deep waters. Stylasterids show a cosmopolitan distribution but, in some areas, they are characterized by low species diversity, such as in the Red Sea, where only a shallow-water species has been reported so far. With this work, we provide the first evidence of a deep-sea stylasterid inhabiting the NEOM region in the northern Saudi Arabian Red Sea, at depths ranging between 166 and 492 m. Morphological examinations revealed that this species was previously unknown and belonging to the genus Stylaster. We, therefore, describe Stylaster tritoni sp. nov., representing the first record of the genus in the Red Sea. Lastly, the phylogenetic position of the species within the Stylasteridae was evaluated, revealing a close relationship with shallow-water Indo-Pacific and Western Atlantic Stylaster species and confirming the polyphyletic nature of the genus Stylaster.

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KW - new species

KW - phylogeny

KW - Stylaster

KW - Stylaster tritoni

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ER -

The First Deep-Sea Stylasterid (Hydrozoa, Stylasteridae) of the Red Sea

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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