Octocorallia (Cnidaria: Anthozoa) from Brazilian reefs

Brazilian reef octocorals have been relatively poorly studied. The last major review was published in the early 1960s by F.M. Bayer. The current study includes a full historical and literature review of Brazilian reef octocorals and lists 17 species. Four new species are described: <i>Muriceopsis metaclados</i>, <i>Leptogorgia pseudogracilis</i>, <i>Stephanogorgia rattoi</i> and <i>Trichogorgia brasiliensis</i>. Two new synonyms are proposed: <i>Olindagorgia gracilis</i> (Verrill, 1868) with <i>Olindagorgia marcgravii</i> (Bayer, 1961), and <i>Ellisella elongata</i> (Pallas, 1766) with <i>Ellisella barbadensis</i> (Duchassaing and Michelotti, 1864). Current knowledge on <i>Muriceopsis</i> is included, but the <i>Muriceopsis sulphurea</i> complex needs a thorough revision. Whenever there is not a recent evaluation of a species, it is fully described and illustrated, its main synonymies are included, and distributional ranges are indicated. An identification key is provided.