Fungia (Verrillofungia) Spinifer spec. nov., a new Scleractinian Coral (Fungiidae) from the Indo-Malayan region

Summary: A new Fungia species from the Bismarck Sea is described and its taxonomic position is discussed. INTRODUCTION The Fungiidae have an important place among Indo-Pacific scleractinian reef corals. Many nominal species have been described in this family, but only about 40 of them proved to be valid (Hoeksema, in prep.) which is roughly 10% of the total number of living Indo-Pacific reef coral species. Only a few of these species do not occur in the central part of the Indo-Pacific, or more specifically the Indo-Malayan Region. The new species has been collected by both authors from different locations in Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. In the most recent generic revision of the Fungiidae, the genera Fungia Lamarck, 1801 and Cycloseris Milne Edwards & Haime, 1849 are kept separate (Wells, 1966). The new species described below shows a combination of characters hitherto considered characteristic for either the former or the latter genus. Therefore the relationship between both genera is also discussed. The type material is deposited at the Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie, Leiden (RMNH) and at the Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique, Bruxelles (IRSNB). TAXONOMIC ACCOUNT Fungia (Verrillofungia) spinifer spec. nov. (figs. 2-8) Type material. - RMNH 17620 (holotype); 17621,17622,17623, IRSNB 27009-401 (paratypes of Fungia spinifer, type loc. Laing Island, Bismarck Sea, Papua New Guinea); RMNH 17624, IRSNB 27009-402 (paratypes of F. spinifer, loc. Madang, Papua New Guinea). Description. - The corals are solitary and free-living. The diameter of the specimens in the type series varies from 5.0 to 12.5 cm and their outline varies from circular to slightly oval. The aboral surface is either slightly concave, flat