A new species of stoloniferous octocoral (Cnidaria: Alcyonacea) from the south-western Indian Ocean

A new species of stolonate octocoral referable to the genus Scleranthelia Studer, 1878 (family Clavulariidae), is described from the East London and Durban regions of South Africa. The species is frequently encountered by dredge at depths ranging from 85 to 340 m. Scleranthelia thomsoni sp. nov. has been confused with the northern Atlantic species S. rugosa (Pourtalés, 1867) (= S. musiva Studer, 1878) by previous authors, but a comparison of material representing both species has shown them to be distinctly differentiated.