Tubastraea candidiflora sp. nov.: An Integrative Taxonomic Study of Sun Corals from South China
In this study, we describe Tubastraea candidiflora sp. nov., a new azooxanthellate sun coral from Dongshan Island, southeastern China. The species is characterized by a distinctive combination of pure white tentacles, a phaceloid to weakly branching colony form, strongly differentiated costae, and a consistent Pourtalès plan. Using an integrative taxonomic approach, we combined detailed skeletal morphology with three commonly used molecular markers and an independent UCE phylogenomic dataset. Both molecular datasets consistently recovered the new species as a distinct lineage, while substantial rDNA divergence further supports its separation from congeners. Our findings expand the known diversity of Tubastraea in subtropical China and demonstrate the value of combining traditional morphology with phylogenomics for resolving species boundaries in morphologically similar corals.
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