Hebella venusta ( Allman, 1877 )

Calder, Dale R., 2019, On a collection of hydroids (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa) from the southwest coast of Florida, USA, Zootaxa 4689 (1), pp. 1-141 : 33-34

Hebella venusta ( Allman, 1877)

Fig. 8a

Lafoea venusta Allman, 1877: 11 , pl. 6, figs. 2, 3.— Ritchie, 1910: 816.— Fraser, 1943: 91.

Hebella venusta .— Leloup, 1935a: 15, fig. 5.

Type locality. USA: Florida, Loggerhead Key , 9 ftm (16 m) ( Allman 1877: 12) .

Material examined. Southwest Florida Shelf, middle shelf west of North Naples, 26°16.83”N, 83°23.81”W, 59.5 m, 19 July 1981, triangle dredge, on Synthecium tubithecum , one colony with two hydrothecae, 0.6 mm high, without gonophores, coll. Continental Shelf Associates, ROMIZ B1929.

Remarks. Hebella venusta , originally described by Allman (1877) from Loggerhead Key in the Dry Tortugas, southwest Florida, is widely distributed in tropical and subtropical regions of the western Atlantic. It ranges there from North Carolina ( Cain 1972) to the southern Caribbean Sea ( Leloup 1937) and has also been reported from Brazil ( Oliveira et al. 2016). Although the validity of H. venusta was questioned by Boero et al. (1997), it has otherwise been recognized in multiple recent works ( Ortiz Rosado 2000; Cairns et al. 2002; Calder & Cairns 2009; Galea 2010; Calder 2013, 2015; Oliveira et al. 2016; Wedler 2017b; Mendoza-Becerril et al. 2018b; Castellanos et al. 2018; WoRMS). Characters distinguishing it from several related species worldwide were summarized by Galea (2010). Hydrothecae of the species are distinctive, and striking, in being deep and transversely annulated.

The life cycle of H. venusta remains unknown. A free medusa seems likely, but gonophores have yet to be described. Empty gonothecae of the species were discovered and illustrated by Galea (2010) in specimens from Guadeloupe, in the Caribbean Sea.

Reported distribution. Gulf coast of Florida. Off Loggerhead Key, 9 ftm (16 m) ( Allman 1877: 12, as Lafoea venusta ).—West Florida, 20 ftm (37 m) ( Ritchie 1910: 816, as Lafoea venusta ).—Dry Tortugas ( Leloup 1935a: 16).—West coast of Florida off North Naples, 26°16’10”N, 82°25’40”W, 20 ftm (37 m) ( Fraser 1943: 91, as Lafoea venusta ).

Elsewhere in western North Atlantic. Mexico: off Zoblos Island (= Isla Holbox) ( Clarke 1879: 243, as Lafoea venusta ).— Cuba: off Morro Castle, 100–250 ftm (183–457 m) ( Nutting 1895: 88, as Lafoea venusta ).— Anguilla: 100–150 ftm (183–274 m) ( Jäderholm 1903: 274, as Lafoea venusta ).— Bermuda: Challenger Bank, 30 ftm (55 m) ( Ritchie 1909: 261; Calder 1990 [1991a]: 41; Boero et al. 1997: 39).—West Indies, unspecified location ( Stechow 1921b: 227, as Hebella westindica ).— Venezuela: off Isla Tortugilla, 8–12 ftm (15–22 m) ( Leloup 1937: 97).— Bahamas: Orange Key, 9 ftm (16 m) ( Fraser 1943: 91, as Lafoea venusta ).— Trinidad: Maguaripe Bay (=Macqueripe Bay) ( Fraser 1943: 91, as Lafoea venusta ).—Unstated location: on buoys ( Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution 1952: 187, as Lafoea venusta ).— Virgin Islands of the United States: St. Thomas, Sound, on Thyroscyphus ramosus ( Vervoort 1968: 26; Boero et al. 1997: 40).— USA: North Carolina, Lithothamnion reef S of Cape Lookout ( Cain 1972: 80).— Belize: Carrie Bow Cay, 23 m ( Spracklin 1982: 246).— Colombia: Isla de Tierra Bomba <5 m ( Flórez González 1983: 123).— USA: South Carolina, inner (17–18 m), middle (32–36 m), and outer (46–69 m) continental shelf + Georgia, inner (17–22 m), middle (23–29 m) and outer (59–67 m) continental shelf ( Wenner et al. 1983: 151; 1984: 21, 40).— Cuba: north coast ( Ortiz Rosado 2000: 88).—French Lesser Antilles: Guadeloupe ( Galea 2010: 13).—French Lesser Antilles: Martinique ( Galea 2010: 49).— Cuba: Golfo de Batabanó (Castellanos- Iglesias et al. 2011: 20).— USA: Florida, Bethel Shoal off Vero Beach, 27°42.6’N, 80°06.8’W, 24 m ( Calder 2013: 17).—Caribbean Sea ( Wedler 2017b: 115, fig. 112).— Mexico: Alacranes Reef, on seagrass ( Mendoza-Becerril et al. 2018b: 129, as Hebella cf. venusta ).— Cuba: Havana, coral reef system west of the city (Castellanos et al. 2018: Supplementary Table S2).

Figures

FIGURE 8. a, Hebella venusta: hydrotheca, pedicel, and stolon, Southwest Florida Shelf, ROMIZ B1929. Scale equals 0.1 mm. b, Modeeria rotunda: hydrotheca, pedicel, and stolon, Southwest Florida Shelf, ROMIZ B4350. Scale equals 0.2 mm. c, Eutima sp.: hydranth and stolon, Sanibel Island, ROMIZ B4349. Scale equals 0.1 mm. d, Genus and species indeterminate: hydrotheca, pedicel, and stolon, Southwest Florida Shelf, ROMIZ B4355. Scale equals 0.1 mm.