The First Deep-Sea Stylasterid (Hydrozoa, Stylasteridae) of the Red Sea

The Stylasteridae, commonly known as lace corals, is a family of colonial calcifying hydrozoans mostly inhabiting deep waters. Stylasterids show cosmopolitan distribution but, in some areas, they are characterized by low species diversity, such the Red Sea, where only shallow-water has been reported so far. With this work, we provide first evidence deep-sea stylasterid NEOM region northern Saudi Arabian at depths ranging between 166 and 492 m. Morphological examinations revealed that was previously unknown belonging to genus Stylaster. We, therefore, describe Stylaster tritoni sp. nov., representing record Sea. Lastly, phylogenetic position within Stylasteridae evaluated, revealing close relationship with Indo-Pacific Western Atlantic confirming polyphyletic nature