Rare sea creature — with ‘crown’ ‘of light’ — found on Oman reef. It’s a new species
Along a coral reef off the coast of Oman, a rare sea creature swayed in the current. Sunlight filtered through the water and reflected off the animal, giving it a “crown” “of light.” Something about the animal caught the attention of nearby scientists. It turned out to be a new species.
Researchers ventured into the shallow reefs off the southern coast of the Arabian Peninsula on several days of expedition in 2022, according to a study published Jan. 10 in the journal ZooKeys. They were searching for corals.
About 80 feet below the surface, researchers found several reflective corals growing along the reef, the study said. They collected some of the corals and, taking a closer look, realized they’d discovered a new species: Ofwegenum coronalucis, or Ofwegen’s crown of light soft coral.
Crown of light soft corals look like small flower gardens, photos show. They are colonial animals with a “mat”-like base from which countless stem-like polyps grow, the study said. Each polyp has eight tentacles branching from the top, giving it a flower-like appearance.
The new species grows over the reef like “thin carpets,” the study’s lead co-author Catherine McFadden told McClatchy News via email. “So long as there is available space for them to keep spreading, they can keep getting larger.”
Around the top of the polyps, crown of light soft corals have small, hardened structures that “are reflective in light,” the study said. A close-up photo of some polyps show these shimmering white rings on the petal-like tentacles.
Researchers said they named the new species after the Latin words “corona,” meaning “crown,” and “lucis,” meaning “of light,” because of its reflective rings.
Overall, crown of light soft corals “appear brown with blue-green tentacles,” the study said. This “striking blue-green” coloring is “unique” and “rare among octocorals.”
“These are very beautiful animals that are almost completely unknown,” McFadden said.
The new species is considered rare and has only been found on three reefs near Mirbat, a coastal city in southwestern Oman, the study said.
Oman is on the southeastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula. The country borders the United Arab Emirates to the north, the Arabian Sea to the east and south, and Yemen and Saudi Arabia to the west.
The new species was identified by its shape, coloring and reflective nature, the study said. A DNA analysis also confirmed the new species was distinct from other soft corals.
The research team included Catherine McFadden, Yehuda Benayahu and Kaveh Samimi-Namin. The team also identified a new genus, Ofwegenum, and two additional new species of soft corals near Australia and Réunion, a French island near Madagascar.
“We know so little about the biodiversity in our oceans,” McFadden said. “There are undoubtedly hundreds of thousands to millions of species living in the oceans that are still unknown to us.”
This story was originally published January 11, 2024 at 8:54 AM with the headline "Rare sea creature — with ‘crown’ ‘of light’ — found on Oman reef. It’s a new species."
