Marine biologists from the University of Costa Rica and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute have discovered a new coral species at a depth of about 25 meters near the Isla San Gallán in the Paracas National Reserve, Peru.

The new species belongs to the coral genus Psammogorgia and can be distinguished from other members of the genus by “its small size; prominent calyces with wide lips around polyp apertures and without a special type of sclerites; coenenchymal sclerites that do not reach more than 0.2 mm long; the occurrence of conspicuous star-like radiates; and the color of the colony and coenenchymal sclerites, which is coral red.”

The species has been named Psammogorgia hookeri for Dr Yuri Hooker, biologist and naturalist at the Cayetano Heredia Peruvian University in Lima, Peru.

“This new species may be found nowhere else in the world. But coral reefs and coral communities in Peru have never been systematically studied. We expect more surprises as we look at new collections,” said Dr Hector Guzman of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, who is the second author of a paper appearing in the Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom.

Psammogorgia hookeri was identified based on colony characteristics and examinations of the coral using both light and scanning-electron microscopy.

Dr Hooker said: “with logistical support from the Peruvian National Protected Areas Service, we’re beginning to discover the amazing biodiversity of corals and marine invertebrates in the Peruvian Pacific.”

“It’s mostly a matter of looking in the right places and inviting experts who can identify these relatively unknown and unstudied creatures.”

Psammogorgia hookeri underscores the importance of Peru’s still largely unexplored marine protected areas.

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Odalisca Breedy & and Hector M. Guzman. A new species of alcyonacean octocoral from the Peruvian zoogeographic region. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, published online January 16, 2014; doi: 10.1017/S0025315413001835