Sandalolitha boucheti, a new species of mushroom coral (Scleractinia, Fungiidae) of Espiritu Santo (Vanuatu, West Pacifc)

Bert W. Hoeksema1, Kevin Mackay2

1 Department of Marine Zoology, Netherlands Centre for Biodiversity Naturalis, P.O. Box 9517, 2300 RA Leiden, , Netherlands; 2 

Corresponding author(s): Bert W. Hoeksema

Received {date}; Revised {date}; Accepted {date}; Published {date}

Citation: Combination of authors, year of data paper publication (in parentheses), Title, Journal Name, Volume, Issue number (in parentheses), and doi of the data paper.

Resource Citation

Hoeksema B W (2024). Sandalolitha boucheti, a new species of mushroom coral (Scleractinia, Fungiidae) of Espiritu Santo (Vanuatu, West Pacifc). Version 1.0. Southwestern Pacific Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS) Node. Occurrence dataset. https://nzobisipt.niwa.co.nz/resource?r=sandalolitha_boucheti_vanuatu&v=1.0

Abstract

A total of 35 mushroom coral species (Scleractinia, Fungiidae) was recorded at the southeastern coast of Espiritu Santo, northern Vanuatu, during the SANTO 2006 expedition. One species, Sandalolitha boucheti n. sp., is described as new to science. It can be distinguished from its congeners by dense and thin septa, ﬁne serrated septal dentations, evenly distributed stomata, and a light brown colour. The present species number is distinctly higher than previous records and suggests that northern Vanuatu, Espiritu Santo in particular, should be included in the so-called Coral Triangle, the Indo-West Paciﬁc centre of maximum marine biodiversity, which would require an extension of this area in southeastward direction.

Keywords: Occurrence, Specimen

General description

Additional information: marine, harvested by iOBIS

Data published through GBIF: https://nzobisipt.niwa.co.nz/resource?r=sandalolitha_boucheti_vanuatu

Taxonomic coverage

General taxonomic coverage description: Mushroom corals (Scleractinia, Fungiidae)
Taxonomic ranks
Species: Sandalolitha boucheti
Common names: Mushroom coral

Spatial coverage

General spatial coverage: Indo-Pacific
Coordinates: 21°26'12.48''S and 4°14'5.78''N Latitude; 118°33'26.71''E and 167°19'18.52''E Longitude 

Datasets

Dataset description
Object name: Darwin Core Archive Sandalolitha boucheti, a new species of mushroom coral (Scleractinia, Fungiidae) of Espiritu Santo (Vanuatu, West Pacifc)
Character encoding: UTF-8
Format name: Darwin Core Archive format
Format version: 1.0
Distribution: https://nzobisipt.niwa.co.nz/archive.do?r=sandalolitha_boucheti_vanuatu
Publication date of data: 2024-02-28
Language: English
Licences of use: Public Domain (CC0 1.0)

Metadata language: English
Date of metadata creation: 2024-02-28
Hierarchy level: Dataset

References
Hoeksema B. W. 2012. Mushroom corals (Scleractinia, Fungiidae) of Espiritu Santo (Vanuatu, West Pacific), with the description of a new species. Zoosystema 34 (2): 429-443. http://dx.doi.org/10.5252/z2012n2a14