Leptogorgia christiae is a rarely collected new species found at 15–30 m depth at Roca Hacha, a rocky outcrop near Coiba Island characterized by its high diversity of octocorals. The branching pattern and combination of asymmetric blunt spindles, abundance of capstans, and a low occurrence of acute spindles are distinct characteristics of the new taxon. The new species is described, illustrated and compared to the other species of the genus reported from Pacific Panama; thus increasing the total of Leptogorgia species to 17, which encompasses over 70% of the shallow water species for the eastern Pacific.
