Hana hanagasa and Hana hanataba: Two new species of Stoloniferous Octocorals from the northwest Pacific.

Octocorals are colonial Corals, Anthozoa, lacking the extensive mineralised skeletons of Stony Corals. Each polyp of the colony has only eight tentacles, giving the group its name, though these often have numerous side branches, giving them a feathery appearance. Gorgonians are a group of Octocaorals that tend to form fan shaped colonies in shallow environments with strong currents. The Stolonifera is a group within the Octocorallia comprising Corals with polyps which are not set within a common coenenchymal tissue, but rather arise from a branching, ribbon-like stolon which spreads over the substrate, typically another Coral or Sponge. These Corals are less well studied than other Soft Corals, and relationships within the group are poorly understood.

In a paper published in the journal ZooKeys on 15 October 2018, Yee Wah Lau of the Molecular Invertebrate Systematics and Ecology Laboratory at the University of the Ryukyus, Frank Stokvis and Leendert van Ofwegen of the Naturalis Biodiversity Center, and James Davis Reimer, also of the the Molecular Invertebrate Systematics and Ecology Laboratory, and of the Tropical Biosphere Research Center at the University of the Ryukyus, describe two new species of Stoloniferous Octocorals from the northwest Pacific Ocean.

The first species is placed in a new genus, named Hana, which means ‘flower’ in Japanese, and given the specific name hanagasa, in reference to a flowered head-dress worn during traditional dances in Okinawa, in both cases this refers to the polyps of the species, which are somewhat floral in appearance. This species typically forms colonies of 50-100 polyps arising from ribbon-like stolons about 0.5 mm in diameter. Each polyp lives within a calyce 2.5-3.0 mm in height, into which they can completely withdraw. The polyps are spaced irregularly on the stolen, with the gap between them ranging from about 0.3 mm to about 2.5 mm. The species was found living on hard Coral rock on the northwest coast of Okinawa Island and southeast coast of Iheya Island, both in the Ryukyu Island chain.

Hana hanagasa from Okinawa. Lau et al. (2018). 

The second species is also placed in the genus Hana, and given the specific name hanataba, meaning a bouquet in Japanese, again in reference to the floral appearance of the polyps. This species typically forms colonies of 30-100 polyps, again rising dwelling within calyxes 2.5-3.0 mm high and arising from a branching stolon 0.5 mm in width. It was found dwelling off the southeast coast of Palau and off the Taiwanese atoll of Dongsha.

Hana hanataba from Ngemelis Island, Palau. Lau et al. (2018). 

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Antipathozoanthus obscurus, Antipathozoanthus remengesaui, & Antipathozoanthus cavernus: Three new species of Parazoanthid Soft Coral from the Indo-Pacific region.

Parazoanthid Corals are colony forming Soft Corals noted for their tendency to grow on other benthic filter feeding animals, typically Sponges but sometimes Corals or other organisms, a form of facultative parasitism in which the Parazoanthid benefits from currents generated by the larger organism, while at the same time covering part of its surface, reducing the host’s ability to feed itself. Parazoanthids usually lack symbiotic Algae, and inhabit dark environments such as marine caves and deep sea cold seeps, where there are few predators, but also little food and limited natural currents, and thereby rely on their host’s ability to generate a current to survive.

In a paper published in the journal ZooKeys on 29 December 2017, Hiroki Kise of the Molecular Invertebrate Systematics and Ecology Laboratory at the University of the Ryukyus, and the Palau International Coral Reef Center, Takuma Fujii, also of the Molecular Invertebrate Systematics and Ecology Laboratory at the University of the Ryukyus, and of the Research Center for Island Studies Amami Station of Kagoshima University, Giovanni Diego Masucci and Piera Biondi, again of the Molecular Invertebrate Systematics and Ecology Laboratory at the University of the Ryukyus, and James Davis Reimer, once again of the Molecular Invertebrate Systematics and Ecology Laboratory at the University of the Ryukyus, and the Palau International Coral Reef Center, and of the Tropical Biosphere Research Center of the University of the Ryukyus, describe three new species of Parazoanthid Soft Coral from the Indo-Pacific region. All are placed in the genus Antipathozoanthus, which gets its name from its habit of overgrowing Antipatharian (Black) Corals.

The first new species described is given the name Antipathozoanthus obscurus, meaning ‘dark’ in reference to the dark environments in which it was found. The species was found in caves and crevices on reefs at depths of between 3 and 15 m, and, unusually, grew on a rocky, non-living substrate, where it was possibly able to survive due to strong currents generated by tidal action, which may have carried planktonic food into the caves. Polyps of this species reach 5-10 mm in height, with an oral disk that opens to a similar size in diameter, and have between 26 and 32 brown or orange tentacles. These polyps are connected by stolons which form a mesh-like network. The whole is covered by an encrustation of sand and other particles up to 8 mm in size. The species was found in the Okinawa Islands of Japan, and around Al Wajh Shaybarah on the Red Sea Coast of Saudi Arabia, which suggests a far wider distribution, probably encompassing the entire Indian Ocean and Western Pacific, and possibly further afield. 

Specimen of Antipathozoanthus obscurus. Collected from Cape Bise, Motobu, Okinawajima Island, Japan (26°42'34.4"N, 127°52'49.2"E) at a depth of 5 m by James Davis Reimer. Kise et al. (2017).

The second species described is named Antipathozoanthus remengesaui, in honour of Tommy Esang Remengesau, Jr., the current president of the Republic of Palau, for his support of marine research and conservation in Palau. This species was found growing on colonies of Corals of the genus Antipathes growing around the entrances to caves at depths of between 9 and 40 m, at Kagoshima (Japan) and Palau in the Pacific Ocean, in the Maldives in the Indian Ocean and around Al Wajh Shaybarah on the Red Sea Coast of Saudi Arabia. Polyps of this species are white in colour and reach 3-8 mm in height, with oral disks up to 8 mm in diameter, surrounded by 40-42 pinkish, translucent tentacles up to 4 mm in length. These polyps are solitary, or only weakly connected by a poorly developed coenenchyma. This species also tends to develop a coating of sand particles, though these tend to be smaller, at 1-3 mm.

Antipathozoanthus remengesaui, colony connected by poorly developed coenenchyma with white polyps on Antipathes sp., collected from Blue Hole, Palau (7°8'29.4"N, 134°13'23.3"E) at a depth of 23 m by James Davis Reimer. Kise et al. (2017).

The final species described is named Antipathozoanthus cavernus, in reference to its habit of living in caves. This species was found growing on colonies of the Coral Myripathes around cave entrances and on steep slopes at depths of between 19 and 39 m in Kagoshima and the Maldives. Polyps of this species reach 3-10 mm in height and have an orange oral disk 4-15 mm in diameter, surrounded by 32-40 translucent tentacles up to 5 mm in length. The polyps are connected by a highly developed coenenchyma, and again the colony is coated in sand and other particles 1-8 mm in size. 

Antipathozoanthus cavernus polyps connected by highly developed coenenchyme with orange ring around oral disk, collected from Siaes Tunnel, Palau (7°18'54.8"N, 134°13'13.3"E) at a depth of 39 m by James Davis Reimer. Kise et al. (2017).

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Sphendone insolita: A new species of Partulid Snail from Palau.

Partulids are a small group of Land Snails found only on Pacific Islands, where they have colonised many small islands other larger groups have never reached. The family is currently divided into three genera, Eua, which is found in Tonga and Samoa, Samoana, which is found in Polynesia and the Mariana Islands and Partula, which is found from Palau to the Society Islands. The group currently contains about 130 described species, but this probably does not reflect the full diversity of the group, as the Snails are arboreal (tree dwelling) and found in remote and widely scattered islands. As with other island-dwelling Snails, Partulids are considered to be extremely vulnerable to extinction, and poor sampling probably means that many species become extinct without ever being documented.

In a paper published in the journal ZooKeys on 1 September 2016, John Slapcinsky of the Florida Museum of Natural History at the University of Florida and Fred Kraus of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Michigan review the Partulid Snails of Palau and describe a new species.

Palau is a group of about 250 islands that form the western part of the Caroline Island group in Micronesia. The islands are currently home to three described species of Partulid Snails, all of which are placed in the genus Partula, however when Slapcinsky and Kraus reviews these species they concluded that this designation is wrong. These species were originally described in 1909 by Henry Augustus Pilsbry under the generic name Palaopartula, so Spalcinsky and Kraus resurrect this genus and return these species to it.

In addition Slapcinsky and Kraus describe a new species from southern Ngeruktabel Island and nearby Mecherchar, which they deem sufficiently different from all other Partulids to merit being placed in an entirely new genus. This species is named Sphendone insolita, where 'Sphendone' means a sling missile in Greek, a reference to the bullet-shape of the shells of the Snails, and 'insolita' means 'unusual' in Latin, in reference to the shape and ecological habits of the Snail, both of which are unusual for a Partulid. The species is described from 77 shells, measuring approximately 18–23 mm in height and 13–15 mm in width, each with 4.5–5.1 whorls.

Sphendone insolita. Scale bar is 5 mm. Slapcinsky & Kraus (2016).

The species is unusual in a Partulid in that instead of living in trees the species is ground-dwelling, being found beneath limestone rocks in well-developed limestone. The two islands on which the species is found are separated by a channel only 25 m deep, and were probably connected during the last glaciation, when sea levels were significantly lower. Since several other nearby islands would also have been part of the same landmass, is possibly that populations of the Snail also exist on these islands.

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Echinolittorina nielseni: A new species of Periwinkle from the Pleistocene-Holocene of northern Chile.                                    Periwinkles, Littorinidae, are abundant shallow marine Gastropods, the shells of which are familiar from beaches around the world. However, while they have...

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Death toll from Typhoon Haiyan nears 4000.

The number of people known to have died after Typhoon Haiyan (known in the Philippines as Typhoon Yolanda) hit the Eastern Visayas islands in the central Philippines on Friday 8 November 2013 is likely to reach 4000 today (18 November), with the World Health Organization warning that the numbers dying is likely to rise further due to infected wounds not receiving adequate treatment and people being unable to gain medication for pre-existing medical conditions, such as diabetes or heart disease. The organization has further warned that conditions on the worst affected islands, Samar and Leyte, are a perfect environment for the spread of water-borne diseases such as cholera or typhoid.

Damage in Tacloban, the capitol of Leyte Island, following Typhoon Haiyan. World Vision Australia.

Typhoon Haiyan first hit the island of Kayangel in the Republic of Palau on Wednesday 6 November, where it is reported to have destroyed every home on the island, but miraculously not taken any lives. Two days later the Typhoon hit Samar Island in the Philippines bringing with it sustained winds of 315 km per hour (i.e. periods in which the wind speed stayed at or above 315 km per hour for over a minute), making it the most powerful tropical cyclone ever recorded making landfall and the fourth most powerful ever recorded. 

Survivors in Tacloban on 10 November 2013. Erik de Castro/Reuters/Trust/Care.

In addition to high winds Typhoon Haiyan brought widespread flooding, with 281.9 mm of rain recorded in Surigao City on Mindanao Island and a 5.2 m storm surge hitting Tacloban. The low pressure above tropical storms causes water to rise there by ~1 cm for every millibar drop in pressure, leading to a storm surge that can overwhelm low-lying coastal areas, while at the same time the heat leads to high levels of evaporation from the sea - and subsequently high levels of rainfall. This can cause additional flooding on land, as well as landslides, which are are a common problem after severe weather events, as excess pore water pressure can overcome cohesion in soil and sediments, allowing them to flow like liquids. Approximately 90% of all landslides are caused by heavy rainfall.

A ship lifted onto land by the storm surge that hit Tacloban. Stern.

Tropical storms are caused by solar energy heating the air above the oceans, which causes the air to rise leading to an inrush of air. If this happens over a large enough area the inrushing air will start to circulate, as the rotation of the Earth causes the winds closer to the equator to move eastwards compared to those further away (the Coriolis Effect). This leads to tropical storms rotating clockwise in the southern hemisphere and anticlockwise in the northern hemisphere.These storms tend to grow in strength as they move across the ocean and lose it as they pass over land (this is not completely true: many tropical storms peter out without reaching land due to wider atmospheric patterns), since the land tends to absorb solar energy while the sea reflects it.

Storm damage on southeast Panay Island in the Western Visayas (also Philippines). Reuters.

Typhoon Hainan is already considered to be the second most destructive storm ever to hit the Philippines (after Tropical Storm Thelma which killed over 8000 people in 1991), with some agencies predicting the death toll could eventually exceed 10 000. The International Red Cross is currently estimating 22 000 people are missing following the storm, though missing figures typically shrink significantly as infrastructure is restored following disaster events, and cannot be used as an accurate proxy for eventual casualties.

Bodies being placed in a mass grave at Basper Cemetery in Tacloban. Aaron Favila/AP.

See also Three dead and two missing as Typhoon Krosa sweeps across the north of Luzon Island, At least thirteen dead as Typhoon Nari sweeps across the Philippines, At least one person dead as Typhoon Utor sweeps across Luzon Island, Typhoon Bopha sweeps across the southern Philippines and Tropical Storm Son-Tinh kills at least 24 in the Philippines.

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A living fossil eel discovered in Palau.

Eels first appear in the fossil record about 100 million years ago, in the Mid Cretaceous. These Cretaceous forms are primitive compared to modern forms, with incomplete fusion of the dorsal, caudal and anal fins, scales on their bodies and many of the bones lost or fused still present. However they are still clearly eels, with elongate bodies and the loss and fusion of some bones associated with the group, in particular the gill rakers and the pectoral fins.

Volume 279 of the Proceedings of the Royal Society B (Biological Sciences) contains a paper by a team lead by David Johnson of the Division of Fishes at the National Museum of Natural History at the Smithsonian Institution, describing the discovery of a remarkable living fossil eel from a submarine cave in a coral reef fringing Ngemelis Island, part of the Pacific Ocean Republic of Palau. This eel shows many features in common with Cretaceous eels, and has been named Protanguilla palau (the first/earliest eel from Palau).

Protanguila palau. Top, adult female named as the Holotype, 176 mm in length. All other pictures of juvenile specimen named as Paratype. Top centre, whole specimen, 65 mm in length, scale bar is 5 mm. Left centre, head in lateral view, scale bar is 5 mm. Right centre, head in ventral view, scale bar is 2 mm. Bottom left, close up of left gill opening in ventral view, scale bar is o.5 mm. Bottom centre, stained scales on lateral body-line, scale bar is 0.5 mm. Bottom right, close up of scales, scale bar is 0.5 mm. From Johnson et al. (2012).

Protoanguila palau shows many similarities to Cretaceous eels, it has an unfused palette, incompletely fused fins, and retains its scales and some bones lost in modern eels. In addition it shows some features lost in even Cretaceous eels, it retains its gill rakers, and whilst clearly an eel, lacks the elongate form found in all other eels. Gene sequencing of P. palau confirms that while it is more closely related to eels than any other fish, all other eels are more closely related to one-another than they are to P. palau.

Based upon this Johnson et al. suggest that P. palau is a living fossil, which branched off from other eels at some time around the boundary between the Triassic and the Jurassic, and has been living in isolation ever since. Whilst this seems fairly reasonable (the date is suspiciously precise, 'before the Mid Cretaceous' would have been more defensible), Ngemelis Island is a coraline limestone platform on top of an extinct submarine volcano - a feature that is unlikely to have remained unaltered since the Mesozoic. This implies that P. palau must have migrated here some time in the more recent past, and may well have relatives elsewhere in the West Pacific.

See also New Mouse Lemur discovered in Madagascar and Boney Fish on Sciency Thoughts YouTube.