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Significance of Symmetry Features for the Classification of Anthozoa

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Abstract

Analysis of symmetry forms, which were studied mainly based on the material of sea anemones and other skeletonless representatives of Anthozoa, has revealed the main stages of coral polyp development, characterized by the following manifestations: (1) the initial bilateral arrangement of mesenteries in the form of bilateral couples, i.e., mesenteries bilaterally symmetrical to the plane of the pharynx (Edwardsia stage); (2) the formation of “true” mesenterial pairs, which are composed of two mesenteries lying side by side and forming the first hexameral mesenterial cycle (Halcampula stage); (3) the appearance of meristematic or mesentery formation zones, which function either in exo- or endocoels; (4) stabilization of zones of mesentery formation and limitation of the number of these zones, which leads to the restoration of bilateral symmetry in few corals. Traditional views about the classification of Anthozoa are considered (Milne-Edwards et Haime, 1857; Haeckel, 1866); a classification scheme reflecting a more relevant current state of knowledge is given.

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Notes

  1. Syn. Adamsia diaphana in Hertwig and Hertwig, 1879; Syn. Exaiptasia diaphana in Grajales and Rodriguez, 2014.

  2. Here and elsewhere, the numbers of specimens are given according to the incoming catalog of the Department of Sponges and Coelenterates of the Zoological Institute, St. Petersburg.

  3. This species was initially assigned by V.G. Averincev to the genus Tealia.

  4. In the endocoels of the directive mesenterial pairs supporting the siphonoglyphs, meristematic zones are usually not formed; however, Hyman (1940, pp. 601, 608) mentions the formation of imperfect sclerosepta and, consequently, the possible presence of mesenteries embracing them, in the ventral directive endocoel or ventral and dorsal directive endocoels in Acrorora and Porites (Scleractinia). Unfortunately, the source of this information is not indicated in this old paper. New observations (deserving detailed consideration) about the formation of mesenteries first in four primary lateral endocoels and then in exocoels can be found in Izumi et al., 2019.

  5. Noticing this, V.N. Beklemishev (1952) distinguished Ceriantharia and Antipatharia as separate subclasses in the “System of the Animal Kingdom” prefacing his book. Following his competent judgment, we have to divide living Anthozoa into four subclasses (Hexacorallia, Ceriantharia, Octocorallia, and Antipatharia) rather than only two subclasses (as recognized by Dogel, Hexacorallia and Octocorallia).

  6. The problem of mitochondrial DNA haplotypes, which are hybrid in their nucleotide composition, has been analyzed by us so far only in a few short publications, which perhaps deserve criticism (Grebelnyi, 2019a, 2019b, 2019c; Grebelnyi, Ivanova, and Nefedova, 2019).

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Funding

The study is based on the taxonomic collection of the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences and supported by the Vietnam-Russian Tropical Research and Technological Centre (Hanoi, Vietnam), and by the state scientific program “Taxonomy, biodiversity and ecology of invertebrates from Russian and adjacent waters of the World Ocean, continental water bodies and damped areas”, no. 122031100275-4.

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  1. Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, 199034, St. Petersburg, Russia

    S. D. Grebelnyi & N. Yu. Ivanova

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Grebelnyi, S.D., Ivanova, N.Y. Significance of Symmetry Features for the Classification of Anthozoa. Paleontol. J. 57, 1226–1245 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0031030123110059

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