SHORT COMMUNICATION Rarity of Nanipora kamurai (Anthozoa: Octocorallia: Helioporacea) at its type locality Yu Miyazaki 1 & Maria Eduarda Alves Santos 1,2 & Shiori Kunihiro 1 & David K. Weinstein 1 & James Davis Reimer 1,3 Received: 26 November 2015 /Revised: 15 December 2015 /Accepted: 16 December 2015 # Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2016 Abstract The recently described aragonite skeleton-forming octocoral species Nanipora kamurai (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Octocorallia: Helioporacea) is known from only one locality in Okinawa, Japan. This locality, Ama Beach on Zamami Island, is a shallow (1 to 1.5 m deep) sandy reef moat popular with recreational swimmers and snorkelers during summer months. Additionally, the species has been reported to be rare at this site, although no concrete survey data existed. This study quantitatively investigated the rarity of N. kamurai at this site via examining all rocks and rubble within a transect survey (n = 6) of 2400 m 2 . Our results show that N. kamurai is indeed low in number, with only eight colonies found over the entire survey area. Of coral rubble and rocks examined, only slightly more than 1 % of rocks had N. kamurai colonies (8/739 rocks), for a density of 0.003 colonies per m 2 . As this species is low in abundance and known from only Ama Beach, local management to ensure the designated recreation- al swimming area at this location should be undertaken. Keywords Octocoral . Rare species . Okinawa . Transect survey . Lithotelestidae Introduction Recently, the octocoral species and genus Nanipora kamurai Miyazaki and Reimer, 2015, was described from Zamami Island, Okinawa, Japan. This species is unusual among octocorals by forming an aragonitic calcium-carbonate skele- ton. Because of this character, along with molecular data, the species and genus have been placed within the order Helioporacea in the family Lithotelestidae. Currently, N. kamurai has only been reported from its type locality at Ama Beach on Zamami Island (26°13'34” N; 127°17'33” E, Fig. 1). During the research to describe this species, only four small colonies were located over the course of the study, and it was speculated that N. kamurai may be a rare, relict species (Miyazaki and Reimer 2015). Large portions of Zamami Island and the Kerama Archipelago, including marine areas extending 7 km from the shorelines of the islands, were declared as Kerama Shoto National Park in 2014 by Japan’ s Ministry of Environment. Additionally, Okinawa Prefecture has seen record numbers of tourists over the past few years (Okinawa Prefectural Tourism Policy Division 2015). This has resulted in increasing numbers of tourists visiting Zamami Island and particularly Ama Beach, which is famous for its coral sand and clear waters (Fig. 1). Directly behind Ama Beach is a camping area, and bungalows are also available for rent in summer months, resulting in many swimmers at the beach in summer. Snorkeling and recreational swimming are limited in summer months to an area delineated with ropes and buoys and patrolled by lifeguards. Because of a lack of information on the relative rarity of N. kamurai combined with the type locality being subject to Communicated by B. W. Hoeksema * James Davis Reimer jreimer@sci.u-ryukyu.ac.jp 1 Molecular Invertebrate and Systematics Ecology Laboratory, Department of Biology, Chemistry and Marine Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of the Ryukyus, 1 Senbaru, Nishihara, Okinawa 903-0213, Japan 2 Programa de Pós Graduação em Sistemas Costeiros e Oceânicos, Centro de Estudos do Mar (CEM), Universidade Federal do Paraná, Pontal do Sul, Paraná, Brazil 3 Tropical Biosphere Research Center, University of the Ryukyu, 1 Senbaru, Nishihara, Okinawa 903-0213, Japan Mar Biodiv DOI 10.1007/s12526-015-0435-4