Aglaophenia rhynchocarpa Allman, 1877

Calder, Dale R., 2013, Some shallow-water hydroids (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa) from the central east coast of Florida, USA, Zootaxa 3648 (1), pp. 1-72 : 48

Aglaophenia rhynchocarpa Allman, 1877

Fig. 14c

Aglaophenia rhynchocarpa Allman, 1877: 40 , pl. 23, figs. 5–8.— Bogle, 1975: 59, fig. 3.

Type locality. USA: Florida, Key West, Triangle Shoal ( Allman 1877: 40) .

Voucher material. Palm Beach, 1.42 miles (2.3 km) offshore, 30.5 m, 23.vii.1974, Johnson-Sea-Link, JSL1174, diver lockout, two colony fragments, up to 4 cm high, without gonophores, coll. J. Prentice, ROMIZ B1083.—West Palm Beach, on reef seaward of the Breakers Hotel, 45 feet (13.7 m), January 1991, SCUBA, four cormoids, up to 2.0 cm high, without gonophores, coll. P. Humann, ROMIZ B3979.

Remarks. Remarks on taxonomy of Aglaophenia rhynchocarpa Allman, 1877 include those of Bogle (1975) and Calder (1997). Both considered A. cylindrata Versluys, 1899 from the Testigos Islands, West Indies, to be conspecific, following Bedot (1925) and Vervoort (1968) earlier. Added to the synonymy of A. rhynchocarpa in my 1997 report were A. rathbuni Nutting, 1900 from “Caravellas” (Caravelas), Brazil, and A. insolens Fraser, 1943 from Maguaripe Bay, Trinidad. Bogle regarded the latter two as coterminous, and indicated that they were merely variants of A. rhynchocarpa . Aglaophenia gracillima Fewkes, 1881 , originally described from Martinique, West Indies, resembles A. rhynchocarpa but differs in having a median abcauline carina that extends well beyond the rim of the hydrotheca. Moreover, the peduncle of its corbula bears 3–4 hydrothecate internodes (cormidia) instead of one.

Palm Beach, Florida, currently appears to represent the northern range limit of Aglaophenia rhynchocarpa . The species was reported from Challenger Bank, near Bermuda, in collections from the Challenger Expedition ( Ritchie 1909, as Aglaophenia cylindrata Versluys, 1899 ; Calder 1997). However, it has not been seen again anywhere around Bermuda or on nearby banks, in spite of extensive hydroid collecting in the area during the late 20 th century. As with Hebella venusta ( Allman, 1877) , noted earlier, it may have become locally extinct ( Sterrer 1998; Calder 2000). By contrast, the species was particularly well-represented in samples from Arrowsmith Bank, Yucatan Channel, examined by Bogle (1975).

Reported distribution. Atlantic coast of Florida. Carysfort Reef ( Bogle 1975).

Western Atlantic. Palm Beach, Florida (reported herein) to Brazil (Oliveira et al. submitted), and including the Gulf of Mexico ( Calder & Cairns 2009) and Caribbean Sea ( Vervoort 1968; Galea 2010).

Elsewhere. Eastern Atlantic ( Vervoort 1959, as Aglaophenia latecarinata , in part).

Figures

FIGURE 14. a, Aglaophenia dubia: part of a hydrocladium with two hydrothecae, ROMIZ B1125, scale equals 0.10 mm. b, Aglaophenia latecarinata: part of a hydrocladium with two hydrothecae, ROMIZ B1086, scale equals 0.10 mm. c, Aglaophenia rhynchocarpa: part of a hydrocladium with two hydrothecae, ROMIZ B1083, scale equals 0.10 mm. d, Aglaophenia trifida: part of a hydrocladium with three hydrothecae, ROMIZ B1086, scale equals 0.10 mm. e, Gymnangium speciosum: part of a hydrocladium with three hydrothecae, ROMIZ B1131, scale equals 0.20 mm. f, Macrorhynchia allmani: part of a hydrocladium with two hydrothecae, ROMIZ B3982, scale equals 0.10 mm. g, Macrorhynchia clarkei: part of a hydrocladium with two hydrothecae, ROMIZ B1129, scale equals 0.10 mm. h, Macrorhynchia clarkei: a single phylactogonium from a pseudocorbula, ROMIZ B1129, scale equals 0.25 mm. i, Macrorhynchia philippina: part of a hydrocladium with three hydrothecae, ROMIZ B1092. Scale equals 0.10 mm.