Novel Marine Species Discovered Hidden in Plain Sight

A multinational team of researchers examined museum collections and identified new species of sponge-associated zoantharians, which are little colonial organisms related to anemones.

The study published in Contributions to Zoology was co-authored by Dr. Javier Montenegro of UWA's School of Biological Sciences and the Minderoo-UWA Deep-Sea Research Centre, and Dr. James Davis Reimer of the University of the Ryukyus in Japan.

Specimens in museum collections are unique and represent a ‘snapshot’ of the biodiversity at a specific point in time at that location and as such their scientific value increases.”

Dr. Javier Montenegro, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western University

Researchers looked at sponge specimens from Western Australia and eastern Indonesia kept in collections at several institutions, including the Western Australia Museum and the Naturalis Biodiversity Centre in the Netherlands.

Six new species of zoantharians of the genus Umimayanthus were identified, and scientists were able to redescribe another species that had been reported more than a century earlier.

Dr Montenegro added, “The newly described species differ from each other by the species of sponges they associate with, size of the polyp, colony structure and the depth ranges.”

Wunambal Gaambera Traditional Owners in Western Australia's northern Kimberley area have given language names to three new species. Umimayanthus mirnangga; "mirnangga" is a Wunambal word for a young single lady. The species got its name from the fact that it is made up entirely of solitary polyps.

Umimayanthus jebarra was the name given to a second species with elongated polyps resembling an emu neck. In the Wunambal language, the emu is referred to as "Jebarra".

In the Wunambal language, "Wunanggu" refers to the hill white gum tree. Umimayanthus wunanggu was called for its white polyps joined by a thin tissue that stretches in a linear branching pattern over the sponge surface.

“We would like to thank the Wunambal Gaambera community for suggesting the names used for the new species,” Dr Montenegro added.

These data indicate that the Central Indo-Pacific area, Western Australia, and Indonesia are important hotspots for the diversity of sponge-associated zoantharians.

Dr. Montenegro concluded, “Our results highlight the value of biological collections not only as time capsules and archives of reference biological material but also as a repository of significant undescribed diversity that remains hidden in plain sight.”