Actinauge verrillii McMurrich, 1893

Fautin, D. G., 2012, Taxonomy and distribution of sea anemones (Cnidaria: Actiniaria and Corallimorpharia) from deep water of the northeastern Pacific, Zootaxa 3375, pp. 1-80 : 34-35

Actinauge verrillii McMurrich, 1893

(Figures 24–25, Appendix 10)

Synonyms: see below

Diagnosis. Shape depends on substratum: most specimens attached to gastropod shell, cylindrical object such as worm tube or sponge spicules, or bolus of mud. Column to 46 mm long. Scapus covered in tubercles; tubercles small toward base, more pronounced toward margin; brown cuticle typically remains only in furrows between tubercles (Figure 24). In specimens examined, column contracted, hiding oral disc; tentacles rarely visible. Same number of tentacles as mesenteries (about 96: four cycles); tentacles tapered, thickened aborally. For detailed information on A. verrillii , see McMurrich (1893) and Dunn (1983).

Cnidae. Spirocysts, basitrichs, microbasic p -mastigophores.

Distribution and taxonomic remarks. Actinauge verrillii was originally described from 15 specimens collected from off the Galapagos Islands, Chile, and the Channel Islands of California from 717, 1,238, and 757 m, respectively ( McMurrich 1893). Specimens have also been trawled in the Southern Ocean ( Dunn 1983).

Additionally, the species has been reported from the Atlantic Ocean in trawls as shallow as 0–450 m but those records are incorrect (see Carlgren 1949; Riemann-Zürneck 1986). Riemann-Zürneck (1986) described the species Actinauge cristata Riemann-Zürneck, 1986 , from the northwestern Atlantic Ocean for specimens that had been identified as A. verrillii .

Thus, A. verrillii appears to be restricted to the Southern and Pacific Oceans. Specimens we examined extended the species’ previously known range to the Aleutian Islands and to depths of at least 119 m to 4,250 m (see Appendix 10) ( Figure 25). Material examined. See Appendix 10.