Description of three new species of Scolanthus (Cnidaria, Anthozoa, Actiniaria, Edwardsiidae): first records of the genus from Japan

Abstract

Scolanthus is one genus of Edwardsiidae, a speciose family of burrowing worm-like sea anemones characterized by lacking a physa-like aboral end and by possessing nemathybomes on the whole body except at the distal end. This genus has been recorded worldwide, but there have been no specimens collected from Japan. In this study, we discovered four Scolanthus species in Japan for the first time: Scolanthus armatus (Carlgren, 1931) and Scolanthus kopepe sp. n. from the Ogasawara Islands, Scolanthus ena sp. n. from Ena Bay, Kanagawa, and Scolanthus isei sp. n. from Sugashima Island, Mie.