Aglaophenia lophocarpa Allman, 1877

Gil, Marta, Ramil, Fran & Agís, José Ansín, 2020, Hydroids (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa) from Mauritanian Coral Mounds, Zootaxa 4878 (3), pp. 412-466 : 431

Aglaophenia lophocarpa Allman, 1877

Aglaophenia lophocarpa: Svoboda, 1979: 82–86 , figs. 12e, 13e, 15e, 16e; Svoboda & Cornelius, 1991: 22–23, fig. 5; Ramil & Vervoort, 1992: 93–94, fig. 23B–C; Ansín Agís et al., 2001: 40–48, figs. 22–25; Peña Cantero & García Carrascosa, 2002: 88–89, fig. 17D.

Material examined. MAURIT-0911, stn MUDR01 , 16º08´24”N, 16º57´12”W, 488 m, 5-XII-2009: 35 colonies, four with corbulae .

MAURIT-0911, stn MUDR02 , 16º08´50”N, 16º57´01”W, 462 m, 5-XII-2009: six colonies, without corbulae .

MAURIT-1011, stn MUDR20 , 16º08´11”N, 16º56´08”W, 405 m, 7-XII-2010: ten colonies 20–47 mm high, three with corbulae .

MSM 16 /3, stn GeoB 14801–1, BG, 20°14.762’N, 17°40.173’W, 568 m, 3-XI-2010: six colonies 14–17 mm high, no corbulae .

MSM 16 /3, stn GeoB 14903–1, GKG, 17°32.853’N, 16°39.700’W, 414 m, 15-XI-2010: three colonies 12–31 mm high, on ascidians, without corbulae .

MSM 16/3, stn GeoB 14914–1, ROV, 17°08.203’– 17°07.898’N, 16°49.478’– 16°48.878’W, 417–514 m, 17.XI.2010: three colonies 5–22 mm high, one on the bivalve Acesta excavata , and other on Sertularella gayi , no corbulae.

Biology. Colonies of A. lophocarpa have been found growing on hard substrata, algae, on other hydroids, old stems of antipatharians and a bivalve of the genus Malleus ( Peña Cantero & García Carrascosa 2002; Vervoort 2006). Colonies with gonothecae have been found throughout the year, except in November ( Ansín Agís et al. 2001); fertile material was reported by Gil & Ramil (2017a) in November in Mauritania.

In our material, colonies were found growing on the bivalve A. excavata , S. gayi and ascidians. Corbulae were observed in December.

Distribution. Aglaophenia lophocarpa is an amphi-Atlantic species with a wide bathymetric distribution between 0 and 2700 m ( Ansín Agís et al. 2001; Vervoort 2006). In the East Atlantic, it has been reported from the French Channel to Guinea-Bissau, including the Mediterranean Sea. On the coast of West Africa, it was collected specifically from Morocco ( Ramil & Vervoort 1992), Canary Islands ( Vervoort 2006), Mauritania ( Ansín Agís et al. 2001; Vervoort 2006; Gil & Ramil 2017a), Cape Verde Archipelago ( Ansín Agís et al. 2001) and Guinea-Bissau ( Gili et al. 1989).

Our material was collected from depths of 405 to 568 m.

Remarks. Aglaophenia lophocarpa is a well-known species in Northwest Africa and does not require further comments.