E. fragile The non-Siphonophoran Hydrozoa (Cnidaria) of Salento, Italy with notes on their life-cycles: an illustrated guide Gravili, Cinzia Vito, Doris De Camillo, Cristina Gioia Di Martell, Luis Piraino, Stefano Boero, Ferdinando Zootaxa 2015 3908 1 1 187 3BZH6 Nutting, 1898 Nutting 1898 [151,564,1832,1858] Hydrozoa Eudendriidae Eudendrium Animalia Anthoathecata 21 22 Cnidaria species album   Material examined.HCUS-S 0 15 (Hydrozoa Collection, University of Salento—fauna of the Salento Peninsula).   Description(based on our own observations; Marinopoulos 1992; Marques et al.2000a; Schuchert 2008b, 2012):  Hydroid.Hydrorhiza as creeping, branching stolons; colonies stolonal or erect; hydrocauli monosiphonic, small and delicate, unbranched or little branched, perisarc smooth with some corrugated or annulated stretches at base of hydrocladia and hydranths; hydranths cup-shaped, somewhat tapering towards base, 1–20 hydranths per shoot (up to 50 possible); hypostome rounded, large; with around 17–22 tentacles. Gonophores as fixed sporosacs, females develop in one whorl of about six sporosacs on body of a normally developed hydranth, with unbranched spadix when mature; males 2–3 (mostly 2) chambered, arising as a single whorl from lower part of the hydranth body. Colours: perisarc of stem brown to yellowish, branches yellowish-brown fading to colourless; hydranths white to cream coloured.  Cnidome.Heterotrichous microbasic euryteles on tentacles, almond-shaped; larger macrobasic euryteles (27.5–29.0 x 10.0–11.0 Μm), shaft in intact capsule in 4–5 coils that are oblique in relation long axis of capsule, confined to upper 2/3 of capsule.  Habitat type.Occurs from the intertidal to about 1000 mdepth on various substrates ( Schuchert, 2012).  Substrate.Stones, algae, bryozoans and other hydroids.  Seasonality.In the Ligurian Sea ( Boero & Fresi 1986) from September to May, in Salento waters in August (De Vito 2006; this study).  Reproductive period.In the Ligurian Sea, reproductive colonies occur from October to March ( Boero & Fresi 1986).   Distribution.Mediterranean to North Atlantic ( Marinopoulos 1992; Marques et al.2000a; Bouillon et al.2004; Gravili et al.2008a; Schuchert 2008b).  Records in Salento.Rare, at: Torre dell’Inserraglio, S.ta Caterina, La Strea, La Rotonda, Ponte del Ciolo ( Presicce 1991); Otranto (De Vito 2006; Gravili 2006; Gravili et al.2008a; this study).   Remarks.Shallow-water colonies small, sometimes stolonal, cold-water colonies larger (see Schuchert 2008b). Watson (1985)and Marques et al.(2000a)redefined this species by asserting that its identification depends on the presence of macrobasic euryteles.   References. Motz-Kossowska (1905), Stechow (1923), Boero & Fresi (1986), Marinopoulos (1992), Marques et al.(2000a), Bouillon et al.(2004), De Vito (2006), Gravili (2006), Gravili et al. (2008a), Morri et al.(2009), Puce et al.(2009) all as  E. fragile; Schuchert (2008b, 2012).