Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Azooxanthellate colonial corals are important habitat-formers in deep-water ecosystems. Here, we provide detailed descriptions of three framework-forming azooxanthellate corals (Petrophyllia niimiensis, Dendrophyllia okamotoi and Dendrophyllia mokiensis sp. nov.) from the Miocene Omori Formation on the Moki coast in Oda, Shimane, Japan using microfocus X-ray computed tomography. With an estimated age of 17.65–13.60 Ma based on nannofossils, Dendrophyllia mokiensis sp. nov. represents the oldest member of Dendrophyllia with a sympodial budding colony. Moreover, this is the first report of the co-occurrence of Petrophyllia and Dendrophyllia in a high density fossil assemblage. Petrophyllia has been reported as a framework builder in cold-water coral reefs or a member of dense accumulations of azooxanthellate corals during the Turonian (Late Cretaceous), thereby raising the possibility that an azooxanthellate coral community dominated by Petrophyllia also existed in the Miocene. This discovery sheds light on changes in azooxanthellate coral communities in deep-water coral habitats during the Cenozoic.
Source: Paleontological Research
DOI: 10.2517/prpsj.240026
Authors: Yuki Tokuda, Naoto Yamada, Hiroumi Endo, Asuka Sentoku, Yoichi Ezaki, Hiroki Hayashi, Yoshihiko Matsuura, Shigenori Kawano
Language: English
Subfield: Paleontology
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Life below water
Open Access status: hybrid
Awards: Deep-aea dynamics in the Southwest Japan under warm current during Quaternary glacial periods: Revealing changes in benthic fauna and environmental conditions, Are symbiotic relationships with zooxanthellae recorded in coral fossils?, Application of X-ray computed tomography on coral skeletal climatology, Adaptation to deeper water environments in scleractinian corals, Are symbiotic relationships with zooxanthellae recorded in coral fossils?
OpenAlex ID: W4411527315