Halecium antarcticum Vanhöffen, 1910

Galea, Horia R. & Schories, Dirk, 2012, Some hydrozoans (Cnidaria) from King George Island, Antarctica, Zootaxa 3321, pp. 1-21 : 7-9

publication ID

https://doi.org/ 10.5281/zenodo.213236

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3507910

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/170887E3-F440-1617-FF19-4D0AEA9C217A

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Plazi (2016-04-12 17:51:01, last updated 2024-11-26 06:40:41)

scientific name

Halecium antarcticum Vanhöffen, 1910
status

 

Halecium antarcticum Vanhöffen, 1910 View in CoL

( Fig. 2 View FIGURE 2. A – C E, H)

Halecium antarcticum Vanhöffen, 1910: 318 View in CoL , fig. 34. — Billard, 1914: 7, fig. 5. — Totton, 1930: 144, fig. 4.

? Halecium antarcticum View in CoL — Watson, 2008: 166 View Cited Treatment , fig. 2.

? Halecium gracile View in CoL — Billard, 1906: 10 (not H. gracile Bale, 1888 View in CoL ).

Halecium delicatulum View in CoL — Naumov & Stepanjants, 1962: 94, fig. 16. — Stepanjants, 1972: 72; 1979: 105, pl. 20 fig. 4A. —Peña Cantero, 2006: 937, fig. 3C. — Peña Cantero & Gili, 2006: 766. — Peña Cantero, 2008: 454, fig. 1A. — Watson, 2008: 169 View Cited Treatment , fig. 5A, B. — Peña Cantero & Vervoort, 2009: 85, fig. 1D, E. — Peña Cantero, 2010: 766, fig. 4A (not H. delicatulum Coughtrey, 1876 View in CoL ).

not Halecium delicatulum View in CoL —Blanco & Bellusci de Miralles, 1972: 7, pl. 1 figs 3–5. — Vervoort, 1972b: 341, fig. 2A. — Blanco, 1984: 7, pl. 4 figs 8–11, pl. 5 figs 12, 13. — Watson, 2008: 169 View Cited Treatment , fig. 5.

Material examined. Stn. SHO — 23.ii.2011, Ant.23/2011 (20–30 m): two small stems, 6 and 5 mm high, respectively, the latter bearing a presumably female gonotheca (content badly preserved).

Remarks. It is likely that the binomen Halecium delicatulum Coughtrey, 1876 was used as a common denominator for several haleciid hydroids from various oceans, characterized by mono- or polysiphonic stems (age-dependent), with more or less geniculate internodes, moderately long primary hydrophores provided with a pseudodiaphragm on the adaxial side, hydrothecae with distinctly everted rim, and ovoid, more or less laterally flattened gonothecae. The taxonomy of this possible complex of species is far from settled. In spite of this evidence, several authors regarded Coughtrey's species as a cosmopolitan taxon (e.g. Watson 2008), whose geographical distribution spreads even to Antarctica (Peña Cantero 2006).

A discussion on the morphological variability and the specific limitation of H. delicatulum was provided by Galea (2010), who re-examined the New Zealand material (microslide MNHG-INVE-26669) described by Schuchert (2005). The gonothecae from Wellington are provided with two prominent "ears" flanking the aperture ( Fig. 2 View FIGURE 2. A – C I), a very characteristic feature also underlined by Ralph (1958). Moreover, they are notably smaller than the gonotheca found in our present Antarctic material ( Fig. 2 View FIGURE 2. A – C H). Additionally, the internodes of H. delicatulum are more slender and more geniculate ( Fig. 2 View FIGURE 2. A – C G), and the primary hydrophores, as well as their corresponding hydrothecae ( Fig. 2 View FIGURE 2. A – C F), are of smaller proportions compared to the specimen assigned here to H. antarcticum ( Fig. 2 View FIGURE 2. A – C E).

Accordingly, we suggest avoiding the use of the binomen H. delicatulum for Antarctic haleciids unless it is indisputably shown that their female gonothecae are morphologically identical to those described in New Zealand specimens, the latter being thought to illustrate the accurate concept of Coughtrey's species. It is also worth mentioning that the relationship between H. antarcticum and H. flexile Allman, 1888 is still unsettled, and both may prove conspecific, an opinion already expressed by Totton (1930) and shared by us.

The specimens with very long primary hydrophores assigned by Blanco & Bellusci de Miralles (1972), Vervoort (1972b), and Watson (2008) to H. delicatulum , as well as those included by Blanco (1984) in H. antarcticum , may not belong to the present species [partly suggested earlier by Peña Cantero (2006)]. Moreover, the gonotheca described by Watson (2008) for H. antarcticum is peculiar, being provided with a "low apical dome with flattened top", a feature not met with in specimens discussed in earlier accounts.

Geographical distribution. Unknown with certainty in the absence of a more comprehensive, comparative study based on a relevant number of fertile (female) specimens from both Antarctic and sub-Antarctic localities.

Bale, W. M. (1888) On some new and rare Hydroida in the Australian Museum collection. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 2 (3) 2, 745 - 799.

Billard, A. (1906) Hydroides. In: Joubin, L. (Ed), Expedition Antarctique Francaise (1903 - 1905) commandee par le Dr Jean Charcot, Masson et C ie, Paris, pp. 1 - 20.

Billard, A. (1914) Hydroides. In: Joubin, L. (Ed), Deuxieme Expedition Antarctique Francaise (1908 - 1910), commandee par le Dr Jean Charcot, Masson et C ie, Paris, pp. 1 - 34.

Blanco, O. M. (1984) Contribucion al conocimiento de hidrozoos antarticos y subantarticos. Contribucion del Instituto Antartico Argentino, 294, 1 - 53.

Coughtrey, M. (1876) Critical notes on the New Zealand Hydroida, suborder Thecaphora. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, (4) 17 (97), 22 - 32.

Galea, H. R. (2010) Notes on a small collection of thecate hydroids (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa) from Tristan da Cunha, south Atlantic. Zootaxa, 2336, 1 - 18.

Blanco, O. M. & Bellusci de Miralles, D. A. (1972) Hidrozoos de la Isla Pedro I. Contribucion del Instituto Antartico Argentino, 145, 1 - 29.

Naumov, D. V. & Stepanjants, S. D. (1962) Gidroidy podotryada Thecaphora, sobrannye v antarkticheskikh i subantarkticheskikh vodakh sovetskoi antarkticheskoi ekspeditsiei na dizel' - elektrokhode Ob . In: Resul'taty biologicheskikh issledovanii sovetskoi antarkticheskoi ekspeditsii (1955 - 1958 gg), 1. Issledovaniya Fauny Morei, 1 (9), 69 - 104.

Pena Cantero, A. L. & Gili, J. M. (2006) Benthic hydroids (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa) from off Bouvet Island (Antarctic Ocean). Polar Biology, 29, 764 - 771.

Pena Cantero, A. L. (2008) Benthic hydroids (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa) from the Spanish Antarctic expedition Bentart 95. Polar Biology, 31 (4), 451 - 464.

Pena Cantero, A. L. & Vervoort, W. (2009) Benthic hydroids (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa) from the Bransfield area (Antarctica) collected by Brazilian expeditions, with the description of a new species. Polar Biology, 32 (1), 83 - 92.

Pena Cantero, A. L. (2010) Benthic hydroids (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa) from Peter I Island (Southern Ocean, Antarctica). Polar Biology, 33 (6), 761 - 773.

Ralph, P. M. (1958) New Zealand thecate hydroids. Part II. Families Lafoeidae, Lineolariidae, Haleciidae and Syntheciidae. Transactions of the Royal Society of New Zealand, 85 (2), 301 - 356.

Schuchert, P. (2005) Taxonomic revision and systematic notes on some Halecium species (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa). Journal of Natural History, 39 (8), 607 - 639.

Totton, A. K. (1930) Coelenterata. Part V. Hydroida. Natural History Report of the British Antarctic ( Terra Nova ) Expedition, 1910. Zoology, 5 (5), 131 - 252.

Vanhoffen, E. (1910) Die Hydroiden der Deutschen Sudpolar-Expedition 1901 - 1903. Deutsche Sudpolar Expedition 1901 - 1903, Zoologie, 3, 269 - 340.

Vervoort, W. (1972 b) Hydroids from submarine cliffs near Arthur Harbour, Palmer Archipelago, Antarctica. Zoologische Mededdelingen, Leiden, 47, 337 - 357.

Watson, J. E. (2008) Hydroids of the BANZARE expeditions, 1929 - 1931: the family Haleciidae (Hydrozoa, Leptothecata) from the Australian Antarctic Territory. Memoirs of the Museum of Victoria, 65, 165 - 178.

Gallery Image

FIGURE 2. A – C: Hydractinia angusta Hartlaub, 1904 — fragment of colony showing gastro-, gonozooid, and spine (A); gonozooid (B); cnidome (C). D: Opercularella sp. — hydrothecate pedicel. E, H: Halecium antarcticum Vanhöffen, 1910 — stem internode (E); gonotheca (H). F, G, I: Halecium delicatulum Coughtrey, 1876 — specimen MHNG-INVE- 26669, showing hydrothecae (F), stem internodes (G), and a female gonotheca (I). J, K: Halecium ovatum Totton, 1930 — fragment of stem showing branching pattern (J); female fonotheca (K). L, M: Antarctoscyphus elongatus (Jäderholm, 1904) — internodes with hydrothecae (L); gonotheca (M). N – P: Antarctoscyphus spiralis (Hickson & Gravely, 1907) — internode with hydrotheca (N); hydrothecal aperture in frontal view, showing intrathecal cusps (O); gonotheca (P). Q – S: Sertularella gaudichaudi (Lamouroux, 1824) — fragment of stem (Q); hydrotheca (R); female gonotheca (S). T, U: Symplectoscyphus cumberlandicus (Jäderholm, 1905) — fragment of stem (T); female gonotheca (U). V, W: Symplectoscyphus glacialis (Jäderholm, 1904) — fragment of stem (V); gonotheca (W). X – Z: Symplectoscyphus vanhoeffeni Totton, 1930 — fragments of stems from Stn. Ant. 06 / 2011 (X) and Stn. Ant. 12 / 2010 (Y); gonotheca from material from Stn. Ant. 06 / 2011 (Z). Scale bars: 10 µm (C), 100 µm (O), 300 µm (D, R), 400 µm (B), 500 µm (E – I, K – N, P, V – Z), 800 µm (J), 900 µm (T), 1 mm (A, Q, S, U).

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Cnidaria

Class

Hydrozoa

Order

Leptothecata

Family

Haleciidae

Genus

Halecium