Pseudumbellula pomona (Risaro, Williams & Lauretta in Risaro et al. 2020)

SYNONYMS

Umbellula pomona Risaro, Williams & Lauretta, 2020 (in Risaro et al. 2020); Pseudumbellula pomona: López-González & Drewery, 2022.

STUDIED MATERIAL

MACN-IN-42609, 3 specimens, St. 46 (38º 5.31’S, 53º39.99’W), September 2013, 3282 m. MACN-IN-42608, 1 specimen, St. 45 (38º1.91’S, 53º39.27’W), September 2013, 2934 m.

DESCRIPTION

This species was recently described from Argentinian waters (Risaro et al. 2020).

Distribution: The four specimens were found in a bathymetric range between 2900 m and 3300 m.

REMARKS: As with many other species of the genus Pseudumbellula, this inhabits deep water.

DISCUSSION

Family Pseudumbellulidae arises from molecular studies based on the family Umbellulidae . Umbellulidae was a polyphyletic family, with two differentiated groups (Dolan et al. 2013; Kushida & Reimer 2019; Risaro et al. 2020). López-González and Drewery (2022) made a molecular revision of different species belonging to these family and created a new one in which they include all the “ Umbellula ” like sea pens with circular axes in cross-section. They also created two genera within the new family: Solumbellula, specimens with only one terminal autozooid, and Pseudumbellula, specimens with numerous terminal autozooids. Many species that used to belong to the family Umbellulidae were transferred to Pseudumbellulidae, including Pseudumbellula pomona for having a distal cluster of three autozooids and circular axis in cross section; and Solumbellula monocephalus for having only one terminal autozooid.