Schizotricha frutescens ( Ellis & Solander, 1786 )

Calder, Dale R., 2012, On a collection of hydroids (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa, Hydroidolina) from the west coast of Sweden, with a checklist of species from the region 3171, Zootaxa 3171 (1), pp. 1-77 : 45-46

Schizotricha frutescens ( Ellis & Solander, 1786)

Fig. 45

Sertularia frutescens Ellis & Solander, 1786: 55 , pl. 6, figs. a, A.

Plumularia frutescens .— Segerstedt, 1889: 21, 27.

Schizotrichia frutescens .— Jäderholm, 1909: 108, pl. 12, fig. 9 [incorrect subsequent spelling of Schizotricha Allman, 1883 ]. Schizotricha frutescens .— Kramp, 1935b: 160, fig. 65B, C.— Rees & Rowe, 1969: 21.— Jägerskiöld, 1971: 64.

Type locality. UK: England, North Yorkshire, Scarborough ( Ellis & Solander 1786: 55) .

Museum material. Väderöarna, 58°35.010’N, 11°04.864’E, 121– 50 m, 13.ix.2010, biological dredge, R / V Nereus , one colony, 2.8 cm high, without gonophores, ROMIZ B3928 .

Remarks. Although sometimes included in the genus Polyplumaria G.O. Sars, 1874 (e.g. Broch 1918; Christiansen 1972; Cornelius 1995b), Peña Cantero & Vervoort (1999) maintained that Sertularia frutescens Ellis & Solander, 1786 was referable instead to Schizotricha Allman, 1883 . They also provided a detailed synonymy, description, and illustration of this hydroid. Other recent accounts of S. frutescens include those of Ramil & Vervoort (1992), Cornelius (1995b), and Schuchert (1997).

Schizotricha frutescens , widely distributed in warmer waters of the eastern North Atlantic including the Mediterranean Sea, has been reported over a depth range of about 20–1262 m ( Christiansen 1972; Ramil & Vervoort 1992; Peña Cantero & Vervoort 1999). It has been reported a number of times previously from the west coast of Sweden ( Segerstedt 1889; Jäderholm 1909; Kramp 1935b; Rees & Rowe 1969; Jägerskiöld 1971), as well as from Denmark ( Kramp 1935b) and the nearby Oslofjord in Norway ( Christiansen 1972). The colony examined here had live hydranths but was not in good condition, with broken hydrocladia.

Reported distribution. West coast of Sweden.—From the border with Norway to mid-way along the Kattegat coast.

Elsewhere.—Eastern Atlantic from Iceland and the Trondheim area, Norway, to Morocco; questionably also from South Africa and the Kerguelen Islands in the southern Indian Ocean ( Millard 1975; Ramil & Vervoort 1992; Cornelius 1995b; Peña Cantero & Vervoort 1999).