Campanularia hartlaubi ( El Beshbeeshy, 2011 )

Galea, Horia R. & Schories, Dirk, 2012, Some hydrozoans (Cnidaria) from Central Chile and the Strait of Magellan, Zootaxa 3296, pp. 19-67 : 59-61

Campanularia hartlaubi ( El Beshbeeshy, 2011)

(fig. 9A–C, E, F, table 10)

Orthopyxis hartlaubi El Beshbeeshy, 1991: 100 , fig. 23B, C (nomen nudum). — El Beshbeeshy, 2011: 83, fig. 24. Campanularia tincta — Hartlaub, 1905: 557, figs D1a, E1. — Jäderholm, 1917: 6, pl. 1 fig. 3.

Campanularia (Orthopyxis) everta — Blanco, 1976: 36, pl. 3 fig. 4.

not Orthopyxis everta — Blanco, 1967a: 258, pl. 2 figs 1–9, 14. (= Campanularia lennoxensis Jäderholm, 1903 ). not Campanularia (Orthopyxis) everta — Vervoort, 1972, 87, figs 26A, B (= Campanularia lennoxensis Jäderholm, 1903 ).

13. The gonotheca illustrated by Stepanjants (1979) may not belong to the present species. Indeed, in the description of the species it is stated "Gonozooids unknown" (Половые зооиды неизвестны).

Material examined. Stn. FSI — 01.iii.2010, PTA019 (20 m): numerous hydrothecae and a couple of female gonothecae, epizoic on Symplectoscyphus filiformis (MHNG-INVE-79645); 03.i.2011, S01 (35 m): a few hydrothecae on Synthecium protectum ; 04.i.2011, S10 (40 m): a few hydrothecae, but no gonothecae, epizoic on Parascyphus repens ; S29 (40 m): a colony detached from its substrate, gonthecae present (MHNG-INVE-79647); S32 (40 m): numerous hydrothecae on unidentifiable athecate hydroid; S38 (25 m): numerous hydrothecae, but no gonothecae, on Symplectoscyphus magellanicus and S. filiformis ; 06.i.2011, S16 (30 m): hydrothecae, but no gonothecae, on S. filiformis and S. protectum (MHNG-INVE-79646).

Description. Creeping, branching stolons, giving rise irregularly to unbranched hydrothecate pedicels, 2–3 times longer than the hydrothecae; basally with 2–3 oblique twists, elsewhere nearly smooth to irregularly wrinkled; a subhydrothecal spherule present. Hydrotheca long, tubular, tapering basally over 1/3rd of its length; margin scalloped in apical view, provided with 11–13 triangular cusps with rounded tips, separated by deep and rather narrow embayments. Gonothecae pyriform, slightly eccentric with respect to their pedicel (fig. 9E, left), rounded in cross section, perisarc markedly thickened. Six ovoid eggs, with large spherical nuclei embedded in an ovoid mass of tissue attached to blastostyle, are visible in both gonothecae from sample PTA019.

Remarks. At first glance, the trophosome of this species shows a striking resemblance to that of Campanularia lennoxensis Jäderholm, 1903 . However, a more careful examination reveals that its hydrothecae are comparatively bigger and longer, their ratio length/width (L/W) varying in the range 2.74–3.36. Reinspection of C. lennoxensis from sample A515 (see Galea et al. 2009) indicates a L/W ratio of 1.83–2.33, thus significantly inferior to that of O. hartlaubi .

El Beshbeeshy (2011) included in the synonymy of C. hartlaubi specimens assigned by both Blanco (1967a) and Vervoort (1972) to C. everta Clarke, 1876 , and explained the morphological differences from the latter species. However, our present data do not support El Beshbeeshy's view. In the first case, the thickened perisarc of both hydro- and gonothecae, their dimensions, as well as the sexual dimorphism of the gonothecae, strongly point towards Jäderholm's species. In addition, the L/W ratio of the hydrothecae calculated from Blanco's plate 2 (figs 1, 2, 6–8) ranges between 1.56–2.40. In the case of Vervoort's material, the dimensions of the hydrothecae fall also in the range given by Galea et al. (2009) for C. lennoxensis , and the ratio L/W deduced from his fig. 26A, B is 2.00– 2.40.

Based on the present observations and comparison with C. lennoxensis , it is concluded that the former inclusion (by Galea et al., 2009) of Blanco's (1976) C. (Orthopyxis) everta in the synonymy of Jäderholm's species is equally unfounded. Her specimens are morphologically identical to, and have a similar size, as the material before us.

In addition, we suspect that part of El Beshbeeshy's material (that with the smallest hydrothecae and the lowest number of cusps, see his table 25) could belong instead to C. lennoxensis , rather than to the present species. Indeed, our specimens from Stn. FSI, S29 have smaller hydrothecae compared to those from sample PTA019 (table 10), and these are the lowest dimensions for the present species recorded among our specimens.

El Beshbeeshy originally included his species in the genus Orthopyxis L. Agassiz, 1862 , but there is no obvious indication on the production of a medusoid, and the species is moved to Campanularia Lamarck, 1816 , pending additional observations on further fertile material.

Distribution in Chile. Smyth Channel ( Hartlaub 1905), Strait of Magellan (present study).

World records. Entrance to the Beagle Channel, south of Sloggett Bay ( Jäderholm 1917), off Santa Cruz and Tierra del Fuego provinces of Argentina ( Blanco 1976, El Beshbeeshy 2011).