Symplectoscyphus paulensis Stechow, 1923

Galea, Horia R. & Schuchert, Peter, 2019, Some thecate hydroids (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa) from off New Caledonia collected during KANACONO and KANADEEP expeditions of the French Tropical Deep-Sea Benthos Program, European Journal of Taxonomy 562, pp. 1-70 : 50-51

Symplectoscyphus paulensis Stechow, 1923

Figs 16C , 17 K–M; Table 11

Symplectoscyphus paulensis Stechow, 1923: 8 .

Symplectoscyphus vervoorti El Beshbeeshy, 2011: 184 , fig. 61.

Symplectoscyphus paulensis – Stechow 1925: 467 , fig. 28. — Millard 1967: 183, fig. 4G–H; 1975: 317, fig. 102A–C; 1977: 107; 1978: 199; 1979: 142; 1980: 144, fig. 5A–B. — Vervoort 1972: 180, figs 60B, 61; 1993: 263, figs 63, 65A. — Hirohito 1983: 51, fig. 24. — Vervoort & Watson 2003: 222, fig. 53A–B. — Watson 2003: 170 , fig. 20. — Soto Àngel & Peña Cantero 2019: 37 , fig. 11I.

Sertularella paulensis – Stepanjants 1979: 71 , pl. 17 fig. 2.

Material examined

PACIFIC OCEAN • a colony, 3 × 3.2 cm, without gonothecae; off New Caledonia, stn DW4759; 23°12′ S, 168°03′ E; 317–343 m; 26 Aug. 2016; KANACONO leg.; one fragment was used for DNA extraction, DNA 1390; voucher MHNG-INVE- 120851; barcode identifier MK 073104 ; MNHN-IK-2015-393 • a fertile colony, 4.5 × 5 cm; same collecting data as for preceding; MNHN-IK-2015-393 .

Remarks

The present material fits the description and illustrations given by Vervoort (1993) of S. paulensis . It is mainly characterized by 1) its rootlike hydrorhiza, firmly adhering the colony to a hard substrate; 2) the stem is unbranched but fascicled, tending to monosiphonic distally; 3) the internodes are weakly indicated, and composed of a minute apophysis (supporting a cladium) together with its associated axillar hydrotheca, as well as two alternate hydrothecae above; 4) the cladia are given off regularly in an alternate manner; unbranched, up to 3 cm long, composed of up to 26 hydrothecate internodes separated by weak oblique nodes; 5) the gonothecae are laterally flattened, with undulated walls; aperture rounded atop of a neck region borne on a terminal, slightly depressed plateau; likely female, containing 1–2 large, ovoid bodies.

El Beshbeeshy (2011) created S. vervoorti for material studied earlier by both Vervoort (1972, as S. paulensis ) and Stepanjants (1979, as Sertularella paulensis ), on the account of 1) wider internodes and nodes; 2) hydrothecae circular in cross section and isodiametric throughout; 3) hydrothecal aperture everted, rim provided with pointed cusps. However, in light of the reexamination of the lectotype of S. paulensis by Vervoort (1993: fig. 43A–D) and the comparative measurements given in Table 11 , this doesn’t seem justified. Indeed, Vervoort (1993: 263) clearly stated that the “Valdivia material is in perfect agreement with specimens described by Vervoort (1972: 180–183, figs 60b, 61)”.

Distribution

Off St. Paul ( Stechow 1923), off Mozambique ( Millard 1967), Vema Seamount ( Vervoort 1972), South Africa ( Millard 1975), Patagonian Shelf ( Stepanjants 1979; El Beshbeeshy 2011, as S. vervoorti sp. nov.), New Caledonia ( Vervoort 1993, present study), New Zealand ( Vervoort & Watson 2003),

Japan ( Hirohito 1983), Macquarie Island ( Watson 2003) and Antarctica ( Peña Cantero 2012; Soto Àngel & Peña Cantero 2019).

Figures

Fig. 16. A.? Symplectoscyphus acutustriatus Galea, sp. nov., holotype colony, MNHN- IK-2015-460. — B.? Symplectoscyphus elongatulus Galea, sp. nov., holotype colony, MNHN- IK-2015-463. — C. Symplectoscyphus paulensis Stechow, 1923, colonies from sample MNHN- IK-2015-393. — D. Symplectoscyphus cf. tropicus (Hartlaub, 1901), colony from sample MNHN-IK-2015-394. — E. Tuberocaulus scorpioides (Vervoort, 1993) gen. et comb. nov., colony from sample MNHN-IK-2015-400. — F–G. Zygophylax niger Galea, sp. nov., holotype colony (F) and detail of its coppinia (G) from sample MNHN-IK-2015-478. Scale bars: A, G = 5 mm; B–E = 1 cm; F = 2 cm.

Fig. 17. A–E.? Symplectoscyphus acutustriatus Galea, sp. nov., portion of stem with side branch (A, from sample MNHN-IK-2015-460); hydrothecae without (B) and with (C) internal, submarginal cusps, aperture in apical view (D), portion of colony with gonotheca (E), all from sample MNHN- IK-2015-461. — F–G. Symplectoscyphus commensalis Vervoort, 1993, portion of colony with internodes and hydrothecae (F), gonotheca(G), both from sampleMNHN-IK-2015-399.— H–J.? Symplectoscyphus elongatulus Galea, sp. nov., portion of stem with proximal part of cladium (H), hydrotheca (I), apical view of aperture showing submarginal, intrathecal cusps (J), all from sample MNHN-IK-2015-463. — K–M. Symplectoscyphus paulensis Stechow, 1923, colony fragment (K), hydrotheca (L), gonotheca (M), all from sample MNHN-IK-2015-393. — N–O. Symplectoscyphus cf. tropicus (Hartlaub, 1901), portion of colony (N), hydrotheca (O), both from sample MNHN-IK-2015-394. Scale bars: A, H, K, N = 1 mm; B–C, E–G, I, L–M, O = 500 µm; D, J = 100 µm.