Zootaxa 4821 (3): 553–569 ISSN 1175-5326 (print edition) https://www.mapress.com/j/zt/ Article ZOOTAXA Copyright © 2020 Magnolia Press ISSN 1175-5334 (online edition) https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4821.3.7 http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:DB0D720E-F076-456E-8FCF-03B62ACF0CE4 Morphological and molecular description of a new genus and species of black coral (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Hexacorallia: Antipatharia: Antipathidae: Blastopathes) from Papua New Guinea JEREMY HOROWITZ1,5, MERCER R. BRUGLER2,3, TOM C.L. BRIDGE1,4 & PETER F. COWMAN1,6 1Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, 101 Angus Smith Drive, Townsville, QLD, 4811, Australia 2Department of Natural Sciences, University of South Carolina Beaufort, 801 Carteret Street, Beaufort, SC, 29902, USA �
[email protected]; https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3676-1226 3Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY, 10024, USA 4Biodiversity and Geosciences Program, Museum of Tropical Queensland, Queensland Museum, 70-102 Flinders St, Townsville, QLD, 4810, Australia. �
[email protected]; https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3951-284X 5 �
[email protected]; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2643-5200 6 �
[email protected]; https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5977-5327 Abstract Blastopathes medusa gen. nov., sp. nov., is described from Kimbe Bay, Papua New Guinea, based on morphological and molecular data. Blastopathes, assigned to the Antipathidae, is a large, mythology-inspiring black coral characterized by clusters of elongate stem-like branches that extend out at their base and then curve upward.