A New Species of Antipatharian (Cnidaria: Anthozoa) from Seamounts in the Eastern North Pacific

Stichopathes spiessi, new species, is described from the eastern North Pacific and compared with the closely related Stichopathes paucispina (Brook). The two species are differentiated on the basis of the size and shape of the spines (smaller and blunter in S. spiessi) and on the size of the polyps (larger and bimodal in S. paucispina). S. paucispina is redescribed from the type material and its generic placement is established by the uniserial arrangement of its polyps. Both species are found on seamounts in the eastern North Pacific. S. spiessi is very abundant at depths of 450-990 m, whereas S. paucispina occurs mainly below 1,000 m.