Pachyseris inattesa is a new species of plating stony coral recently described from several locations around the Red Sea up and down the coast of Saudi Arabia. Colonies of the newly described Pachyseris inattesa was previously confused as belonging to the Leptoseris genus due to superficial resemblances but a recent closer examination revealed minute skeletal features that actually places this coral as its own species within Pachyseris.
The appearance of Pachyseris inattesa is generally that of a flat plate like a Leptoseris but the surface detail can vary depending on the habitat which varies from exposed reef slopes to beneath overhangs and caves at a depth between 10 and 35 meters (33 to 115 feet). In well sunlit exposed environments the surface of P. inattesa has a well developed surface detail giving it a wrinkled appearance, not unlike Leptoseris mycetoseroides. Meanwhile in more sheltered environments with less available light, or where the coral is growing at an incline the surface details tend towards developing a much smoother appearance.
Like most species of Pachyseris, P. inattesa is not going to win any aquarium beauty contests on sheer looks and color with its tissue usually being grey to light brown, occasionally with a light green tinge. On average colonies of P. inattesa that were encountered ranged between 10 and 25 cm in diameter (4 and 12 inches) and the general trend of the growth shape was to follow the underlying reef substrate.
The new species of Pachyseris was described by Tullia Terraneo et. al. in the latest edition of ZooKeys.
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