Cairns, S.D. 2021. The Marine Fauna of New Zealand: Primnoid octocorals (Anthozoa, Alcyonacea) - Part 3. Thouarella, and additional records of other primnoid species. Wellington, NZ: NIWA (National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research). NIWA Biodiversity Memoir 133, 67 p.
Abstract
The Primnoidae of New Zealand are reviewed from new and existing collections held within the National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research Invertebrate Collection, Wellington, New Zealand; over 400 specimens from 222 stations were examined. This work constitutes the third and final part of a multipart series on the primnoid octocorals (phylum Cnidaria Hatschek, 1888; class Anthozoa Ehrenberg, 1834; order Alcyonacea Lamouroux, 1812; suborder Calcaxonia Grasshoff, 1999; family Primnoidae Milne Edwards, 1857) for the region. The focus of this memoir is the genus Thouarella Gray, 1870, including six species of that genus, and transfers one species, T. moseleyi, to the genus Metafannyella Cairns & Bayer, 2009. Two additional primnoid species are also reported as new records for the New Zealand region: Metafannyella rigida sp. nov., and Dasystenella austasensis (Zapata-Guardiola & López-González, 2010a). This brings the total number of primnoid species known from primarily within the New Zealand Exclusive Economic Zone to 67, including 63 named and four unnamed species, the most species-rich family among the New Zealand Octocorallia. Furthermore, additional records of 27 previously reported primnoid species are listed
