The genus Trimuricea (Octocorallia: Plexauridae) was established by Gordon (1926), with four species characterized by the presence of tripartite thornscales in the polyps (Fig. 1). The genus was not observed again until Grasshoff (1999) added a fifth species from New Caledonia, T. caledonica. Grasshoff and Bargibant (2001) were the first to show an underwater picture of a species of Trimuricea, that of T. caledonica. Here, for the second time, a live Trimuricea species is presented (Fig. 2). It was photographed and sampled from Larak Island in the Persian Gulf (Fig. 3). The living tissue is yellowish white, polyps are magenta, and sclerites are colorless. The species is still under investigation; it shows affinities with T. reticulata (Thomson and Simpson, 1909), described from the Andaman islands, Indian Ocean.

Fig. 1
figure 1

Scanning electron micrographs of characteristic tripartite sclerites of Trimuricea

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Fig. 2
figure 2

A live colony of Trimuricea in Larak Island

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Fig. 3
figure 3

Geographic location of Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz

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