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New species from the animal and plant kingdoms are discovered and described every day, often after months of field research
This is the idealized, exploratory and adventurous approach, but the majority of species discoveries actually occur in the processing of collected specimens in a museum, according to Dr. Gustav M. Kessel of Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, Aotearoa-New Zealand.
The soft coral, known as "Dead man's fingers", was one of the first corals to be scientifically described during the Astrolabe expeditions in New Zealand.
Typical of the time, the original description by Quoy & Gaimard is vague and based largely on features that have little diagnostic value by today's standards. The only other taxonomic treatment of Alcyonium aurantiacum is the description by Benham (1928), which unfortunately further obscures the diversity of New Zealand coastal soft corals by assigning both lobed and encrusting specimens to this coral.
Consequently, several morphologically distinct forms were identified as possibly belonging to Alcyonium aurantiacum, although they are highly variable in terms of color, colony shape and sclerite morphology.
Dr. Kessel took up this challenge and his work led to the first description of no less than 10 new species, all of which had previously been assigned to Alcyonium aurantiacum.
One of these new species is the soft coral Kotatea teorowai:
Diagnosis
The animal is a white colony with branched lobes and white polyps.
The tentacles contain irregular, warty, scale-like sclerites, the polyp neck contains warty, rod-like and spiny, spindle-shaped forms.
The polyp mounds contain thorny clubs, rays, spiny, spindle-shaped and warty, rod-shaped forms.
The holotype consists of a completely white, lobed colony (preserved in ethanol), which is 6.5 cm high and 9 cm wide.
Several large lobes arise from a thick stalk and divide into numerous smaller, rounded lobes of varying thickness.
The polyps are most densely arranged at the ends of the lobes, but they occur throughout the colony, with the exception of an area about 1 cm long proximal to the base.
Kotatea teorowai may occur syntopically with Kotatea kapotaiora, as the holotypes for both species were collected together in the same specimen
Kotatea teorowai is most similar to Kotatea amicispongia , Kotatea aurantiaca and Kotatea raekura.
Kotatea teorowai may occur syntopically with Kotatea kapotaiora as the holotypes for both species were collected together in the same specimen
Etymology of the species name:
The species name was compiled by the Ngāti Kurī Tira Me Te Wā Taiao (Science) Collective and is a is a combination of the Māori words oro, to echo, reverberate or rumble, and wai, water. Ngāti Kurī provided the following kōrero (narrative): "The many surging currents are absorbed and deflected by the many branches of Te Orowai, creating the illusion of a symphony of sounds emanating from the depths of our oceans. There is a resonance of the many voices of the sea creatures. Te ha o Hinemoana (the breath of Hinemoana) gives life and meaning to the many complementary sounds of the deep. The rhythm of the ocean is often heard in the hōhonu mātauranga (deep and profound knowledge) of our tūpuna (ancestors). Our way of learning is through the ebb and flow of nature's rhythmic patterns. We create poetic images to visualize our many different kōrero (stories/narratives) and events through mōteatea (poetic song), waiata (song), haka (dance), whakataukī (proverbs), kōrero pūrakau (the telling of myths and legends) and so on. Learning is a lifelong process and we need to grasp mātauranga (knowledge/wisdom) in the taiao (natural world) to breathe life and knowledge into the nature of humanity. Te Orowai brings harmony and creative expression to our natural and celestial worlds.
Etymology of the genus name:
Kotatea is the Māori word for red soft coral and is used as a generic name to honor their original te reo (Māori language) names. Ko refers to a distant point in time, while tatea means descendants. Furthermore, kota (hardened shell) refers to the substrate on which some colonies grow, while tea (white) refers to the polyps that collectively cling to this foundation, signifying whānau (family), unity and security. Ngāti Kurī deliberated on the appropriateness of this name and provided the following kōrero (narrative): "Kotatea is all about whānau (family).
Source:
Kessel, Gustav M., Alderslade, Philip, Bilewitch, Jaret P., Schnabel, Kareen E., Norman, Jerry, Potts, Romana Tekaharoa, Gardner, Jonathan P.A. (2022):
Die Finger des toten Mannes zeigen auf neue Taxa: zwei neue Gattungen neuseeländischer Weichkorallen (Anthozoa, Octocorallia) und eine Revision von Alcyonium aurantiacum Quoy & Gaimard, 1833
European Journal of Taxonomy 837: 1-85, DOI: https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2022.837.1923, URL: http://zoobank.org/7cbac71f-ff75-411c-9ce9-aa633e16438e
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
This is the idealized, exploratory and adventurous approach, but the majority of species discoveries actually occur in the processing of collected specimens in a museum, according to Dr. Gustav M. Kessel of Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, Aotearoa-New Zealand.
The soft coral, known as "Dead man's fingers", was one of the first corals to be scientifically described during the Astrolabe expeditions in New Zealand.
Typical of the time, the original description by Quoy & Gaimard is vague and based largely on features that have little diagnostic value by today's standards. The only other taxonomic treatment of Alcyonium aurantiacum is the description by Benham (1928), which unfortunately further obscures the diversity of New Zealand coastal soft corals by assigning both lobed and encrusting specimens to this coral.
Consequently, several morphologically distinct forms were identified as possibly belonging to Alcyonium aurantiacum, although they are highly variable in terms of color, colony shape and sclerite morphology.
Dr. Kessel took up this challenge and his work led to the first description of no less than 10 new species, all of which had previously been assigned to Alcyonium aurantiacum.
One of these new species is the soft coral Kotatea teorowai:
Diagnosis
The animal is a white colony with branched lobes and white polyps.
The tentacles contain irregular, warty, scale-like sclerites, the polyp neck contains warty, rod-like and spiny, spindle-shaped forms.
The polyp mounds contain thorny clubs, rays, spiny, spindle-shaped and warty, rod-shaped forms.
The holotype consists of a completely white, lobed colony (preserved in ethanol), which is 6.5 cm high and 9 cm wide.
Several large lobes arise from a thick stalk and divide into numerous smaller, rounded lobes of varying thickness.
The polyps are most densely arranged at the ends of the lobes, but they occur throughout the colony, with the exception of an area about 1 cm long proximal to the base.
Kotatea teorowai may occur syntopically with Kotatea kapotaiora, as the holotypes for both species were collected together in the same specimen
Kotatea teorowai is most similar to Kotatea amicispongia , Kotatea aurantiaca and Kotatea raekura.
Kotatea teorowai may occur syntopically with Kotatea kapotaiora as the holotypes for both species were collected together in the same specimen
Etymology of the species name:
The species name was compiled by the Ngāti Kurī Tira Me Te Wā Taiao (Science) Collective and is a is a combination of the Māori words oro, to echo, reverberate or rumble, and wai, water. Ngāti Kurī provided the following kōrero (narrative): "The many surging currents are absorbed and deflected by the many branches of Te Orowai, creating the illusion of a symphony of sounds emanating from the depths of our oceans. There is a resonance of the many voices of the sea creatures. Te ha o Hinemoana (the breath of Hinemoana) gives life and meaning to the many complementary sounds of the deep. The rhythm of the ocean is often heard in the hōhonu mātauranga (deep and profound knowledge) of our tūpuna (ancestors). Our way of learning is through the ebb and flow of nature's rhythmic patterns. We create poetic images to visualize our many different kōrero (stories/narratives) and events through mōteatea (poetic song), waiata (song), haka (dance), whakataukī (proverbs), kōrero pūrakau (the telling of myths and legends) and so on. Learning is a lifelong process and we need to grasp mātauranga (knowledge/wisdom) in the taiao (natural world) to breathe life and knowledge into the nature of humanity. Te Orowai brings harmony and creative expression to our natural and celestial worlds.
Etymology of the genus name:
Kotatea is the Māori word for red soft coral and is used as a generic name to honor their original te reo (Māori language) names. Ko refers to a distant point in time, while tatea means descendants. Furthermore, kota (hardened shell) refers to the substrate on which some colonies grow, while tea (white) refers to the polyps that collectively cling to this foundation, signifying whānau (family), unity and security. Ngāti Kurī deliberated on the appropriateness of this name and provided the following kōrero (narrative): "Kotatea is all about whānau (family).
Source:
Kessel, Gustav M., Alderslade, Philip, Bilewitch, Jaret P., Schnabel, Kareen E., Norman, Jerry, Potts, Romana Tekaharoa, Gardner, Jonathan P.A. (2022):
Die Finger des toten Mannes zeigen auf neue Taxa: zwei neue Gattungen neuseeländischer Weichkorallen (Anthozoa, Octocorallia) und eine Revision von Alcyonium aurantiacum Quoy & Gaimard, 1833
European Journal of Taxonomy 837: 1-85, DOI: https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2022.837.1923, URL: http://zoobank.org/7cbac71f-ff75-411c-9ce9-aa633e16438e
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
