Vol. 43 No. 3, 2004

Soft Corals (Octocorallia: Alcyonacea) from Southern Taiwan. I. Sarcophyton nanwanensis sp. nov. (Octocorallia: Alcyonacea)

Yehuda Benayahu* and Shimrit Perkol-Finkel

Department of Zoology, George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel

Yehuda Benayahu and Shimrit Perkol-Finkel (2004) A new species of Sarcophyton from southern Taiwan and Okinawa, Japan is described: S. nanwanensis. It has unique sclerites, almost oval without a distinct head, on the surface of the polyparium and stalk. A species with sclerites similar to those of S. nanwanensis is discussed.

Key words: Octocorallia, Taiwan, Coral reefs, New species, Taxonomy.

*Correspondence: Tel: 972-3-6409090. Fax: 972-3-6409403. E-mail: yehudab@tauex.tau.ac.il