Aglaophenia cupressina Lamouroux, 1816

Chakraborty, Oishinee & Raghunathan, C., 2020, Notes on seven Aglaopheniids (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa: Aglaopheniidae) from Andaman and Nicobar Islands with three new records to India, Zootaxa 4790 (2), pp. 291-317 : 295-297

Aglaophenia cupressina Lamouroux, 1816

( Fig. 2a )

Aglaophenia cupressina Lamouroux, 1816: 169 ; Kirchenpauer 1872: 27, pl. 1: fig. 11; Billard 1913: 107, fig. 96; pl. 6; Bale

1915: 319, pl. 47: figs 6–8; Leloup 1932b: 1–3. Vervoort 1941: 233, fig. 11; Millard 1975: 408, fig. 128A–C; Schuchert

2003: 242-245, fig. 81; 2015: 351, fig. 24. Plumularia bipinnata Lamarck, 1816: 126 ; Billard 1907: 331. Aglaophenia macgillivrayi Busk, 1852: 400 ; Allman 1883: 34, pl. 10, pl. 20: figs. 4–6; Billard 1909: 331. Corbulifera macgillivrayi .— Naumov 1969: 530, figs 380– 381.

Material examined. Stn. 43: ZSI/ANRC- 21539, 6 m.

Description. Colony large, up to 11.6 cm in height, branched up to second order. Primary hydrocaulus thick, bearing equally thick secondary hydrocauli at regular intervals. Branching nearly opposite and all branches thickly polysiphonic. Hydrocladia thick, alternately arranged resembling a fir twig. Hydrocladia segmented by transverse nodes. Each node bears one hydrotheca and two internal ridges at the level of hydrotheca extending to the rear. Hydrothecae campanulate, completely adnate and very narrow ( Fig. 2a ). Opening of hydrothecal mouth at an angle of 30.4° to the adnate hydrothecal wall. Lateral margin undulating with a prominent antero-lateral cusp. Adcauline shelf present, extending from the adcauline to the abcauline side of the hydrotheca at the lower level. Median inferior nematotheca very stout and completely adnate to the hydrotheca. Hydrothecal breadth about 2/3 rd the hydrothecal width. Median inferior nematotheca reaches the level of the hydrothecal mouth and bears an internal septum in the upper part. No gonothecae were observed.

Remarks. This species is recorded for the first time from Indian waters.Although only one specimen of the species was encountered during the study period, it was easily identified due to its characteristic hydrothecal structure ( Fig. 2a ). Also, zooxanthellae were observed to be associated with the species. A. cupressina is known to occur in very shallow waters, 1–2 m and 10m ( Schuchert, 2003), however, it has been reported up to depths of 564 m ( Billard, 1913).

Distribution. Type locality; East Indies ( Lamouroux, 1816)

India; Andaman and Nicobar Islands (Present study).

Elsewhere; Taiwan (Tseng et al., 2014), Bunaken, Indonesia (Ricciardi, 2007) and from Zanzibar and Mozambique to Great Barrier Reef, Indonesia, New Guinea, Philippines, Japan.?Sea of Okhotsk. ( Schuchert, 2003).

Figures

FIGURE 2. Illustrations of hydrothecae. a, Aglaophenia cupressina Lamouroux, 1816. b, Gymnangium hians (Busk, 1852). c, Lytocarpia brevirostris (Busk, 1852). d, Lytocarpia delicatula (Busk, 1852). e, Macrorhynchia philippina Kirchenpeuer, 1872. f, Macrorhynchia phoenicea (Busk, 1852). g, Monoserius pennarius (Linnaeus, 1758). Scale bar, a, b, g= 200µm, c, d, e, f, h, i=100µm.