Clytia reloncavia, Galea, Horia R. & Schories, Dirk, 2012

Galea, Horia R. & Schories, Dirk, 2012, Some hydrozoans (Cnidaria) from Central Chile and the Strait of Magellan, Zootaxa 3296, pp. 19-67 : 62

Clytia reloncavia sp. nov.

(fig. 9G–J)

Clytia gigantea — Leloup, 1974: 13, fig. 12 (not Campanularia gigantea Hincks, 1866: 297 ). not Clytia gigantea — Galea et al., 2009: 22 , fig. 5A–E (= Clytia sp., see below).

Material examined. Stn. YBU — 12.vii.2010, S03 (41 m): a few sterile stems, epizoic on Bougainvillia muscus ; S06 (40–47 m): colony composed of several hydrothecae, but no gonothecae, epizoic on Halecium fraseri ; 26.iv.2011, S15 (20 m) (holotype): a profuse colony, up to 3.5 cm high, on worm tubes; two gonothecae found (MHNG-INVE-79648).

Description. Colonies composed of single or branched pedicels arising from creeping hydrorhiza; stems generally monosiphonic, the larger ones (up to 3.5 cm high) occasionally overgrown basally by a few secondary tubes. Branches given off upwardly from stem; branching may be repeated several times; pedicels with 8–13 basal annuli and 4–14 below hydrotheca; occasional annulations in between. Hydrothecae large, about twice as long as wide (1065–1640 µm long, 475–835 µm wide at aperture); rim with 8–14 castellate cusps separated by rounded embayments; cusps occasionally with a small incision in middle of their upper part (fig. 9I)]; cusps prolonged for certain distance as downwards folds; aperture undulated in cross section. Gonotheca elongated cylindrical, 1940– 2060 µm long, ca. 375 µm wide, narrowing basally into a ringed pedicel, distally truncate, slightly constricted just below aperture, the latter 275–300 µm wide; three medusa buds in both gonothecae available.

Remarks. The Chilean record of Clytia gigantea ( Hincks, 1866) by Leloup (1974) is evidently based on a misidentification. This northern species was recently redescribed by Calder (2012), and its gonothecae were reported by him for the first time. Unlike our specimens, its hydrothecal cusps are characteristically linguiform, and its gonothecae are provided with transverse ribs. An earlier record attributable to C. gigantea by Galea et al. (2009) is equally erroneous, on the account of the size and shape of the hydrotheca; it is assigned here to the synonymy of Clytia sp. (see below).

The habit of the colonies, the large size of the hydrothecae, their characteristic marginal cusps, and the undulation of the thecal wall, make this species different from its congeners described previously.

Besides the similar size of their hydrothecae, the Japanese ( Hirohito 1988) and New Zealand ( Vervoort & Watson 2003) materials attributable to C. gigantea are kept distinct on the account of their slightly different shape and their georgraphically remote areas of occurrence.

Etymology. Named after the known area of occurrence, the Relocaví Sound.

Distribution in Chile. Reloncaví Sound area and Gulf of Ancud ( Leloup 1974, present study).

World records. Possibly endemic to southern Chile.