Schizomavella halimedae (Gautier, 1955)

(Figure 7; Table 5)

Schizoporella discoidea: Hincks 1887: 303 .

Smittina halimedae Gautier, 1955: 252, pl. 3, figs 18, 19.

Schizomavella discoidea: Gautier 1962: 138 (in part), fig. 13; Hayward and Ryland 1999: 280 (in part), fig. 126D; Zabala 1986: 470, text-fig. 159, pl. 12, figs E, F; Zabala and Maluquer 1988: 130, text-fig. 296, pl. 16, fig. F; Novosel 2007: 62, fig. 27A, B.

Schizomavella halimedae: López de la Cuadra and García Gómez 2001: 1720, fig. 2A, B, table 2; Novosel 2007: 64, fig. 27C, D.

Material examined

CNHM Inv. br. 56: St. 7, Kornati (Strižnja), 43°47.922 N, 15°16.452 E, 09 July 2003, 10 – 15 m.

Note: SD, standard deviation; N, number of measurements.

CNHM Inv. br. 57: St. 8, Jabuka Shoal (PJ-2), 43°06.060 N, 15°26.210 E, 28 August 2001, 32 m.

CNHM Inv. br. 58: St. 8, Jabuka Shoal, 43°06.060 N, 15°26.210 E, 27 August 2001, 40 – 50 m.

CNHM Inv. br. 59: St. 9, Jabuka Islet (J4), 43°05.500 N, 15°27.600 E, 29 August 2001, 10 – 20 m.

CNHM Inv. br. 60: St. 15, Lastovo Island (Vrhovine, LA-3), 42°72.378 N, 16°88.429 E, 15 May 1998, 30 – 40 m.

CNHM Inv. br. 61: St. 15, Lastovo Island (Skrivena luka), 42°72.378 N, 16°88.429 E, 05 March 2002, 10 – 20 m.

MNCN 25.03 /3901: St. 7, Kornati (Strižnja), 43°47.922 N, 15°16.452 E, 09 July 2003, 10 – 15 m.

MNCN 25.03 /3902: St. 11, Biševo (Gatula), 42°57.312 N, 16°00.261 E, 14 February 2006, 10 – 20 m.

MNCN 25.03 /3903: St. 12, Vis (Komiža Bay), 43°04.430 N, 16°07.213 E, 01 September 2001, 5 – 15 m.

MNCN 25.03 /3904: St. 14, Hvar Island (Kozja), 43°11.374 N, 17°04.930 E, 02 April 2005, 15 – 20 m (Figure 7) .

MNCN 25.03 /3905: St. 15, Lastovo Island (Vrhovine, LA-3), 42°72.378 N, 16°88.429 E, 15 May 1998, 30 – 40 m.

MNCN 25.03 /3906: St. 15, Lastovo Island (LA-4), 42°72.378 N, 16°88.429 E, 15 May 1998, 20 – 25 m.

Remarks

The Adriatic material studied in the present work fully matches the redescription of S. halimedae made by López de la Cuadra and García-Gómez (2001) who clearly separated it from the very similar species S. discoidea (Busk, 1859) .

Lepralia discoidea was originally described from Madeira, but it is thought that other records from the European continental shelf may correspond to at least one new undescribed species. López de la Cuadra and García-Gómez (2001) also stated that many previous records of S. discoidea in the Mediterranean are probably referable to S. halimedae, a species restricted to the inner Mediterranean. However, S. discoidea s. l. seems to be also present at least in the western Mediterranean, as well as in the Atlantic, so its presence in the Adriatic is not impossible.