Opinions and declarations Rendered by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature

Opinions and declarations Rendered by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature

Members of the subfamily Anthomastinae Verrill, 1922, commonly known as mushroom soft corals, are some of the most typical examples of octocorals in the deep sea. However, their diversity and spatial distribution in the northwestern Pacific are poorly known. Here, two species of mushroom soft corals were obtained from the Zhenbei Seamount in the South China Sea, one described as Anthomastus nanhaiensis, new species, and the other identified as Bathyalcyon robustum Versluys, 1906. Anthomastus nanhaiensis is characterised by highly tuberculated double spheroids, clubs and spindles in capitulum and stalk, and the absence of sclerites from neck zone of anthocodial wall. It is the first species of Anthomastus Verrill, 1878 recorded from the South China Sea, and the second one known from the northwestern Pacific. Bathyalcyon robustum Versluys, 1906 is a remarkable octocoral originally reported from the western Pacific by having a single large autozooid, a peculiar feature within the subfamily Anthomastinae Verrill, 1922. We describe its live morphology for the first time and the detailed structure of sclerites, particularly the rodlets in pharynx and the multiradiates in tentacles, which can be used to distinguish the monotypic genus Bathyalcyon Versluys, 1906 from Anthomastus Verrill, 1878 (vs. platelets in pharynx and the absence of multiradiates in tentacles).

Opinions and declarations Rendered by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature

Opinions and declarations Rendered by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature