Abstract
A new species of Eleutherobia is described, enlarging the Eleutherobia species group that lack sclerites in the anthocodiae. The Octocorallia of the South-China Sea are poorly known, and the data that is presented provides a new record of the genus for Vietnam. The original description of Sinularia manaarensis Verseveldt, 1980 was based on a single incomplete colony fragment collected in 1902 near Ceylon (Verseveldt, 1980, Pl. 16, Fig. 3). Here we present data on both living and preserved S. manaarensis colonies that were found in Nha Trang Bay (South China Sea) in 2006. The club-shaped surface sclerites with wide flattened handles are characteristic of the species. Images of live colonies are given along with a biogeographical discussion. S. arctium sp. nov., is also described. It has a remarkable assortment of sclerites, which includes both leptoclados- like clubs and warty clubs with a distinct central wart.References
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