New records of octocorals (Cnidaria: Anthozoa) from the Brazilian coast

Abstract

The Oceanography Department of the Federal University of Pernambuco (DOCEANUFPE) possesses a large collection of octocoral samples from the Brazilian coast; most of which were collected during expeditions carried out on the oceanographic ships 'Akaroa,' 'Almirante Saldanha,' 'Antares,' 'Calypso,' and 'Canopus' between 1965 and 1971. This paper focuses on 7 new octocoral records that resulted from these surveys, of which 5 are first records for South Atlantic waters: Leptogorgia stheno (Bayer, 1952), Muriceopsis bayeriana Sa ́nchez, 2007, Muri - ceo psis flavida Bayer, 1961, Chironephthya sp., and Thelogorgia studeri Bayer, 1992; the last species is also the first record of the Family Keroeididae for the region. Additionally, Nidalia occidentalis Gray, 1835 was recorded for the first time in Brazil, while the genus Nidalia was a first time record for northern Brazil. All of these records highlight the importance of sampling carried out by oceanographic expeditions in filling some of the gaps in the geographic distribution of certain taxa, thus increasing the knowledge of marine biodiversity in the locations studied. © Inter-Research 2011.