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Coral boring Aka-species (Porifera: Phloeodictyidae) from Mexico with description of Aka cryptica sp. nov.

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 December 2007

José Luis Carballo
Affiliation:
Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, (Estación Mazatlán), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Apartado postal 811, Mazatlán 82000, México
Leanne Hepburn
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, Colchester, CO4 3SQ, UK
Héctor H. Nava
Affiliation:
Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, (Estación Mazatlán), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Apartado postal 811, Mazatlán 82000, México
José Antonio Cruz-Barraza
Affiliation:
Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, (Estación Mazatlán), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Apartado postal 811, Mazatlán 82000, México
Eric Bautista-Guerrero
Affiliation:
Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, (Estación Mazatlán), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Apartado postal 811, Mazatlán 82000, México

Abstract

This paper focuses on Aka species boring coral of the East Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea (Mexico). The new species Aka cryptica sp. nov. is described from Mexican Pacific coral reefs, which constitutes the first time that a species of the genus Aka is reported from the East Pacific Ocean. The new species lives cryptically boring coral species of the genus Pocillopora. It is characterized by the small size of their papillae (from 1 to 4.5 mm high and from 0.8 to 1.8 mm in diameter), and oxeas (from 67 to 120 μm), and their exposed parts blend in well with background colours which tend to be overlooked during benthic marine surveys. In addition, Aka coralliphaga and Aka brevitubulata from Mexican Caribbean coral reefs are redescribed. The latter species is reported for the first time in Mexico.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
2007 Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom

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