Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society
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Churabana kuroshioae was collected near Iejima Island, Okinawa and Nanpo Trough, Kikaijima Island, Kagoshima, Ryukyu Archipelago, Japan, at depths of 520 - 650 meters.
This azooxanthellate crust anemone lives together with massive hexasterophore sponges.
Churabana and other previously described sponge-associated zoantharians genera can be easily distinguished from each other by their host sponges (Hexactinellida sponges vs. Demospongiae sponge) and depths; the former are found at > 140 m, while the latter are found in shallow coral reefs.
The living polyps are cream-pink or beige and the tentacles are cream-colored or whitish transparent.
The ectoderm and mesoglea of the polyps are encrusted with numerous sand and silica particles of varying sizes
The living expanded oral discs have a diameter of approx. 1.5 - 2.0 mm, expanded polyps up to 10 mm in height.
Number of tentacles 30 - 32 pieces.
Etymology:
The genus name is derived from the Ryukyuan language words "chura" meaning "beautiful" and "bana" meaning "flower", and refers to the appearance of this species.
The Japanese name is Chura-tama-sunaginchaku'.
Etymology: The species name is named after the Daini-kuroshio-maru, as the species was collected from this ship.
The Japanese name is Beni-chura-tama-sunaginchaku'.
Literature reference:
Hiroki, Montenegro, Javier, Santos, Maria E. A., Hoeksema, Bert W., Ekins, Merrick, Ise, Yuji, Higashiji, Takuo, Fernandez-Silva, Iria & Reimer, James D., 2022,
Evolution and phylogeny of glass-sponge-associated zoantharians, with a description of two new genera and three new species, pp. 323-347
in Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 194 on pages 327-330, DOI: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlab068, http://zenodo.org/record/5799592
This azooxanthellate crust anemone lives together with massive hexasterophore sponges.
Churabana and other previously described sponge-associated zoantharians genera can be easily distinguished from each other by their host sponges (Hexactinellida sponges vs. Demospongiae sponge) and depths; the former are found at > 140 m, while the latter are found in shallow coral reefs.
The living polyps are cream-pink or beige and the tentacles are cream-colored or whitish transparent.
The ectoderm and mesoglea of the polyps are encrusted with numerous sand and silica particles of varying sizes
The living expanded oral discs have a diameter of approx. 1.5 - 2.0 mm, expanded polyps up to 10 mm in height.
Number of tentacles 30 - 32 pieces.
Etymology:
The genus name is derived from the Ryukyuan language words "chura" meaning "beautiful" and "bana" meaning "flower", and refers to the appearance of this species.
The Japanese name is Chura-tama-sunaginchaku'.
Etymology: The species name is named after the Daini-kuroshio-maru, as the species was collected from this ship.
The Japanese name is Beni-chura-tama-sunaginchaku'.
Literature reference:
Hiroki, Montenegro, Javier, Santos, Maria E. A., Hoeksema, Bert W., Ekins, Merrick, Ise, Yuji, Higashiji, Takuo, Fernandez-Silva, Iria & Reimer, James D., 2022,
Evolution and phylogeny of glass-sponge-associated zoantharians, with a description of two new genera and three new species, pp. 323-347
in Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 194 on pages 327-330, DOI: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlab068, http://zenodo.org/record/5799592
