Abstract

Nine deep-water primnoid octocoral species are described from Hawaiian waters, four of them as new species, bringing the total number of octocoral species known from Hawai‘i to 94. Candidella gigantea is reported for the first time subsequent to its original description from Fiji in 1889. To place the two new species of Calyptrophora in context, all 16 species in the genus are keyed and analyzed in a morphology-based phylogenetic analysis. Although the analysis did not support the species complexes and species groups established by Bayer, it did suggest two distinct clades based on characters such as the opercular cowl, inclination of the polyps, and cross section and sculpture of the basal scale spines.

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